Census of Bengal Tiger using cameras began in the Sundarbans on Sunday.
More than a thousand field workers are taking part in the census for estimating the tiger population in the Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans.
For the first time ever, a tiger census is being carried out using cameras instead of the traditional footprints method.
Funded by the World Bank under “Strengthening Regional Co-operation for Wildlife Protection Project,” the census will be completed by June next year.
A 2004 survey showed that the Bengal Tiger population in Bangladesh part was 440 while in Indian part 217. The UNDP had conducted the census using pugmarks.
According to the records of Forest Department, Bengal Tiger population in Bangladesh part was 453 in 1982 and 450 in 1985.In 1994, the Bengal Tiger population had come down to 369, according to a survey of Food and Agricultural Organisation.
Assistant Conservator of Forests in charge of Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation Md Mobinul Hasan said 89 automatic cameras would be set up atdifferent points of the Sundarbans to monitor movement and take pictures of tigers during the one-year project involving Tk3m, reports BSS.
The actual number of tigers can be ascertained after analysis of the pictures, he said.
“The major threats to the Bengal Tiger are poaching and habitat loss,” he said.
Bangladesh has earlier taken a number of steps for tiger conservation, includingTiger Action Plan 2009-2017, National Tiger Recovery Programme and an amendment to the Forest Act 2012, he added.
On May 4 this year, a five-day pilot survey of Bengal Tigers, which was the first phase of the Bengal Tiger Census and Monitoring project, was held at Kotka-Kochikhali area of the Sundarbans.
