Tiger Population in Sundarbans Rises | 08 May 2020
Why in News
As per the latest census conducted by the West Bengal Forest Department, the tiger count in the Sundarbans for 2019-20 has gone up to 96 from 88 in 2018-19.
- The increase in the number by eight is significant as it is the highest annual jump reported from the Sundarbans.
Sundarbans
- Sundarbans is a vast contiguous mangrove forest ecosystem in the coastal region of Bay of Bengal spread over India and Bangladesh on the delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers.
- The Sunderbans Delta is the only mangrove forest in the world inhabited by tigers.
- Indian Sundarbans constitute over 60% of the country’s total mangrove forest area.
- Indian Sundarbans has been recognised as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 and ‘Wetland of International Importance’ under the Ramsar Convention in January, 2019.
- It is home to rare and globally threatened species, such as theNorthern River Terrapin, Royal Bengal Tiger, Irrawaddy Dolphin, and the Fishing Cat.
- Estimation of the number of tigers in the Sunderbans has always been a challenge because of the difficult terrain that comprises dense mangrove forests, with creeks and rivulets, and floods twice a day during the high tides.