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Sunderbans: Cyclone hits tiger habitat

May 28, 2009, 2:36AM MT

By Sharon St. Joan

Causing devastation

Causing devastation

On Monday, May 25, a fierce cyclone struck Bangladesh and northeastern India killing at least 191 people.

A May 27, 2009, article in the Times of India, by Prithvijit Mitra & Monotosh Chakraborty, TNN, described great devastation in the Sundarbans where many of India's remaining tigers live--in the highest concentration of tigers in the world. The Sundarbans is the world's biggest mangrove forest, and it is estimated that the cyclone may have destroyed up to 15% of the forest. Officials fear that as many as a dozen of the Bengal tigers may have been killed, along with scores of other animals.

The remaining tigers will have difficulty surviving now that so many prey animals are gone.

One tiger trying to escape the floods made his way into Jamespur Village, where he sought shelter in a cowshed to the dismay of the farmer who owned the cowshed, who called the Forest Department.

When the water level had receded enough for officers to reach the tiger, they were able to tranquilize him, and were planning to release the tiger as soon as that was feasible.

By Tuesday afternoon, the water level in the forests was around 8 feet. On Monday, the depth of the water had been as high as twenty feet.

The last tiger census found that there were 265 tigers living in the Sunderbans. This storm represents a major blow to the tiger population and to the other forest animals, as well as to the mangrove forests themselves.

What you can do

To read this article in the Times of India,
Click here

Posted by Sharon St Joan, Best Friends Network

Photo: © Marilyn Gould / Dreamstime.com

Comments

Posted May 29, 2009, 6:31PM by eileenwj

very sad situation for the future for all of these areas,