West Bengal's Sundarbans witnesses highest increase in Royal Bengal Tigers since 2016

The Sundarban Tiger Reserve in West Bengal has witnessed the highest increase of Royal Bengal Tigers since 2016. The West Bengal Forest Department released the 2019-2020 census of Royal Bengal Tigers of Sunderbans and according to it, eight tigers have increased compared to 2019. The number of tigers increased to 96 in 2020 compared to 88 tigers in 2019.

In 2016-17, there were 81 tigers in the Sundarban Tiger Reserve and it 2017-18, there was an increase of six tigers taking the total number to 87. While 2018-19 witnessed 88 tigers, an increase of one tiger in a year, 2019-20 witnessed a total of 96 tigers. The state Forest Minister said that the habitat is very healthy and will lead to more increased numbers of tigers in 2020-21.

The Sundarbans is the largest mangrove delta and only mangrove tiger habitat in the world. The landscape comprises two divisions--1) Sundarban Tiger Reserve and 2) 24 Parganas(south) Division. The total area of Sundarban Tiger Reserve (STR) with its four ranges (Sajnekhali Wildlife Sanctuary, Basirhat, National Park East and National Park West) is about 2585 sq kilometres. The three tiger bearing ranges of 24 Parganas(South) Division i.e, (Matla, Raidighi, Ramganga) comprises of 1111.07 sq kilometre area in total.

According to the Tiger Estimation protocol of NTCA, in 2010 the first All India Tiger Estimation exercise took place in Sundarbans. Since 2012, with the help of some Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), Forest Department carried out the phase IV tiger estimation exercise as per the guidelines of NTCA.

In the last couple of years, the Forest Department is doing the exercise on its own with the help of outside players only for Logistics (cameras) support and training. In 2019-2020 session, during the months of December 2019 and January 2020, in line with Phase-IV monitoring protocol of NTCA, the Sundarban Tiger Reserve and the 24 Parganas (South) Division carried out camera trapping to monitor the tiger population in the Sundarbans with 2 SqKm grid composition.