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Gani, M.O.
A study on the loss of Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris) in five years (1996-2000) from Bangladesh Sundarbans
2002  Tiger Paper (29): 6-11

Once, the Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris Linnaeus 1758) had a wide range of occurrence in the forests of Bangladesh. It was seen in all the major forests of Bangladesh until the late 1940s. Nut in recent years, there have been no authentic reports of the existence of Bengal tiger in the tropical forests of Chittagong, Chittagong Hill Tracts, Syhet and Cox's Bazar (Anon, 2000). The last Bengal tiger was killed in the reserved forests of Masalong of Chittagong Hill Tracts in the year 1976, in Cox's Bazar reserved forests in 1974, and in Sylhet forests in 1968. Bengal tigers are presently found only in the Sundarbans mangrove forest which is situated in the southwestern part of the country from latitude 21ø27' to 23ø30' North and longitude 89ø02' to 90ø00' East. The total area of Bangladesh Sundarbans in about 601,700 ha (Canonizado and Hossain, 1998). Tamang (1993) estimated 362 Bengal tigers in the Sundarbans mangrove forests. Besides Bengal tigers, there are also spotted deer (Axis axis), barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak), rhesus monkey (Macca mulatta), wild boar (Sus scrofa), red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus), otter (Lutra perspicillata), estuarine crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), rock python (Python molurus) and a number of birds and fishes in the Sundarbans. The local people kill tigers if they come into their villages, out of a sense of protection for human and livestock, and for revenge for previous attacks. Poachers are also known to be active, but data on these incidents remain scant.

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