The terrifying growl still rings in my ears," says Ashutosh, pointing to a deep gash on his left thigh. A botched attempt at tranquilizing a tiger had left two others wounded that morning. So, while his neighbours go fishing, Ashutosh — once a deft fisherman — keeps himself busy with his barren paddy field.
Between the World Environment Days of 2009 and 2010, no less than 25 tigers strayed into Sunderbans villages and left around a dozen people injured. Never before in recorded history has this tide country seen so many tigers venturing beyond the forest limits. The forest department has been reluctant to admit it, but wildlife experts believe this unique habitat of the Royal Bengal Tiger is undergoing a change and there are enough indications to suggest that the terrain is turning increasingly hostile for the big cat. Several other species of flora and fauna are battling for survival as well in the world's largest mangrove forest.
Rise in water level and increasing salinity in the rivers and creeks pose the biggest threat to the Sunderbans, according to experts. It has set off a chain of ecological mutations that has resulted in the flight of tigers from the southern end of the forest to the northern part, which is hemmed by human habitation. Frequent straying has been the inevitable result.
And its not just tigers that have been affected. Several species of dolphins and fishes, too, have either moved northward or gone extinct, claim scientists. Trees like sundari and passur and phundun have shifted from the outer estuary to the mid-estuary region, an indicator that saline water has penetrated deeper into the forest. “It is clear that the Sunderbans is a victim of accelerated sea-level rise. Salt wedges from the sea have been extending inwards into the rivers and creeks as the water swells. This can be linked directly to the movement of tigers northward, leading to a higher density of big cats in the area and consequently more straying," explained Pranabesh Sanyal, former director of Sunderban Tiger Reserve.
Said Tuhin Ghosh, senior lecturer of Jadavpur University's School of Oceanographic Studies: “The increasing salinity upstream is changing the mangrove zonation. The trees and plants common in the southern Sunderbans can now be seen in the northern part as well. And some trees in the northern regions, which can't stand too much salinity, are dying. This is changing the character of the forest and food availability for animals and some animals are migrating northward, some are adapting to the changed situation and some are getting extinct gradually." Read the full story here.Â
Source: Prithvijit Mitra & Achintyarup Ray, TNN
