Using the experience of 2015 and 2018 for tiger census, the environment and forest department is using trapping technology on a larger scale. Under the Sundarbans Tiger Conservation Project, two specialized technology cameras are being installed at 665 points in four ranges of the Sundarbans. Tiger census information will be released in June next year.
To protect the biodiversity of the forest, this initiative has been taken to know the number and current status of tigers, said The Sundarbans Tiger Conservation Project Director and Divisional Officer of the Sundarbans West Forest Division Abu Nasser Md. Mohsin Hossain.
He said that Begum Habibun Nahar, Deputy Minister of Environment and Forests, inaugurated the tiger counting program on Sunday in Kalabagi area of Sundarbans. After the inauguration, installation of cameras started from Haldibunia area of Satkhira range. Cameras are being placed 50 cm above ground along forest trees. Each point will have two cameras for 40 days. Camera battery and memory card will be changed every 15 days. If a tiger, deer, pig or any other animal passes in front of the camera, the photo and 10 seconds of video will be captured automatically.
According to the information received from the Forest Department, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change approved the Sundarbans Tiger Conservation Project at a cost of Tk. 35.93 million on March 23 to collect updated information on tigers and conserve tigers. The duration of the project is till March 2025. According to the 2018 survey, the number of tigers in the Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans was 114. In 2015, this number was 106. Concerned people expressed hope that this number will increase after the calculation.
