IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Chakrabarti, K. | |
| Tiger in the mangrove forests of Sundarbans - an ecological study | |
| 1986 Tigerpaper: 8-11 | |
Sundarbans is a unique marshy tract where sharks, crocodiles, tigers, venomous snakes, and spotted deer exist in a fantastic blending of fury and beauty. The Sundarbans eco-system is tough, resilient, adaptive, and at the same time intricate and interacting. It is the biggest tract of estuarine forest in the world, covering about 10,000 square kilometres, and is one of the largest chunks of undisturbed forest still remaining; a good habitat for the tiger, though not without its hardships due to the tidal action which promotes a rapid circulation of nutrients and the salinity which varies widely, both in the vertical and horizontal planes. The vast expanse of swamp, closely studded with a network of tiny islands of mudflats, supports a low wooded forest of high density and virgin beauty. The rivers which weave around the tiny mudflats form fantastic labyrinths, bifurcations where hard and pointed pneumatophores give a trying time to the lives of the Sundarbans inhabitants. Opposite, undirectional and oscillating tidal currents meet and exert a considerable and complicated force on the entire biota. Diurnal changes in the water salinity create conditions which make physiological adjustments by the animal and plant communities very difficult. The Sundarbans Tiger Project area is located in a negative estuary where the influx of fresh water is practically negligible. Tigers in general exhibit the euryhaline character which is displayed by many estuarine organisms. |
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