IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Naha, D. | |
| Human-tiger conflict, ranging pattern and habitat use by tiger in Sundarban Tiger Reserve, India | |
| 2015 Full Book | |
Sundarbans of India and Bangladesh is the only mangrove in the world where tigers still live and is classified as a Tiger Conservation Landscape of Global Priority. The Sundarban tiger inhabits a unique mangrove habitat type, isolated from neighboring tiger populations by hundreds of kilometers of agricultural and urban land. This is the world's largest contiguous mangrove forest created at the confluence of the deltas of rivers Brahmaputra, Ganga and Meghna. The tiger is an integral part of Sundarban and partly responsible for the great publicity obtained by this area for two reasons, first, the highest concentration of tigers in the world was believed to exist here and second, for the highest concentration of man-eating tigers in the world. Local legends mention that about 100 years ago 4,218 people were eaten by tigers in just six years while historical records indicate that 800 human lives were lost in a span of 20 years in the undivided Sundarbans. More recent estimates proclaim that on an average 36 lives are lost to tigers on the Indian side of Sundarbans each year with only 28.5% of bodies recovered. Finding solutions to these issues were essential for securing the support of villagers, who have a large impact on forest management. Studies from other countries such as Nepal, Russia has told us a lot about some general life history characteristics and behavior that can probably be applied to all tigers, but there was a lack of baseline information about the current Sundarban tiger population on the Indian side and how current management strategies are affecting it. Though a few studies have been initiated on the Bangladesh side, yet detailed information on ecology of tigers is crucial for formulating long term conservation plans for the entire landscape. There was a pressing need to address the severe tiger-human conflict to minimize the resulting human misery and loss of tigers. The main objectives of the present study were to (a) understand ranging pattern and habitat use of tiger (b) to quantify livestock losses by tiger predation and identify spatio-temporal patterns in conflict in and around the Tiger Reserve (c) to document and quantify the geographic distribution of tiger-human incidents and (d) to evaluate the perception and level of tolerance of people living in the vicinity of Tiger Reserve. |
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