DHAKA: The number of Royal Bengal tigers in the Sundarbans mangrove forest in the Bay of Bengal is decreasing at an alarming rate. Both government and NGOs say there are just 121 tigers left in the Sundarbans.
Bangladesh’s Forest Department and international agencies have launched several initiatives to help protect this endangered species. While the Bengal tiger is believed to be the most numerous of tiger species, there are only around 2,500 remaining in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fun (WWF).
Bangladeshi zoologist Abdul Aziz recently completed research for his doctoral thesis on tigers in the Sundarbans, and his survey of 2,000 sq. km of the Sundarbans — a UNESCO World Heritage site — confirmed that 121 Bengal tigers live in the forest.
“It was a Herculean job,” Aziz told Arab News. “Fifty-six local people worked with me for six months to collect the tigers’ feces and fur from the Sundarbans. This was the first time genetic screening technology was employed to make a census of the tiger population in the mangrove forest. Earlier, researchers used camera trapping to investigate the population since every tiger bears some unique stripes on its face and tail area.” It took a further two years for laboratories in the US and Europe to analyze all the samples collected by Aziz and his team.
Jahidul Kabir of the Bangladesh Forest Department’s Wildlife and Nature Conservation Circle told Arab News: “We can say (there are) between 101 and 121 Royal Bengal tigers in Sundarbans.” The deparment’s last tiger census, in 2015, put the number at 106.
The department will implement a five-step action plan next year, he said, focusing on tiger protection, strengthening resources, engaging local residents, education outreach, and research and monitoring.
“In the next five years, we plan to spend 400 crore taka ($50 million) on the conservation of the Sundarbans and Bengal tigers,” he added.
According to Anowarul Islam, the chief executive of conservation organization Wild Team, tiger movement in the Sundarbans offered cause for optimism between 2009 and 2012, when “the situation went bad.” However, he added that, this year, the situation has stabilized.
Between 1975 and 2006, censuses show that there were between 200 to 450 Bengal tigers in the Sundarbans, so there has been a marked decrease in numbers in recent years, even while — according to the WWF — 13 tiger-populated countries including India, Russia and Bhutan have managed to increase their tiger numbers between 2011 and 2016.
There are explanations for why the Sundarbans have not seen a similar upward trend in tiger numbers, said Ishtiak Uddin Ahmed, Bangladesh’s country manager for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), while stressing that — because a tiger’s “home range” is typically 20-to-25 sq. km, and because of the “ecological situation” in the mangrove forest — the Sundarbans could only support a maximum of 300 tigers.
Destruction of their habitat, scarcity of food, and poaching are three of the main reasons why the local tiger population is diminishing, he said, adding: “Another reason is the increased frequency of natural calamities, especially heavy cyclones, which is an adverse impact of global climate change.”
Bangladesh striving to save endangered Bengal tigers
Bangladesh striving to save endangered Bengal tigers
Trump discussing how to acquire Greenland; US military always an option, White House says
- Greenland has repeatedly said it does not want to be part of the United States
- Strong statements in support of Greenland from NATO leaders have not deterred Trump
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and his team are discussing options for acquiring Greenland and the use of the US military in furtherance of the goal is “always an option,” the White House said on Tuesday.
Trump’s ambition of acquiring Greenland as a strategic US hub in the Arctic, where there is growing interest from Russia and China, has been revived in recent days in the wake of the US arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Greenland has repeatedly said it does not want to be part of the United States.
The White House said in a statement in response to queries from Reuters that Trump sees acquiring Greenland as a US national security priority necessary to “deter our adversaries in the Arctic region.”
“The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the US military is always an option at the commander-in-chief’s disposal,” the White House said.
A senior US official said discussions about ways to acquire Greenland are active in the Oval Office and that advisers are discussing a variety of options.
Strong statements in support of Greenland from NATO leaders have not deterred Trump, the official said.
“It’s not going away,” the official said about the president’s drive to acquire Greenland during his remaining three years in office.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said options include the outright US purchase of Greenland or forming a Compact of Free Association with the territory. A COFA agreement would stop short of Trump’s ambition to make the island of 57,000 people a part of the US.
A potential purchase price was not provided.
“Diplomacy is always the president’s first option with anything, and dealmaking. He loves deals. So if a good deal can be struck to acquire Greenland, that would definitely be his first instinct,” the official said.
Administration officials argue the island is crucial to the US due to its deposits of minerals with important high-tech and military applications. These resources remain untapped due to labor shortages, scarce infrastructure and other challenges.
Leaders from major European powers and Canada rallied behind Greenland on Tuesday, saying the Arctic island belongs to its people.
