Royal Bengal Tigers In Sundarban Risk Extinction: Study
Royal Bengal Tigers in Sundarban risk extinction: Study
A new study has predicted that the Sundarban's iconic 'Royal Bengal Tigers' could become an extinct species within the 50 years, especially from the Bangladesh part due to climate change.
The study titled 'Combined effects of climate change and sea-level rise project dramatic habitat loss of the globally endangered Bengal tiger in the Bangladesh Sundarban', carried out by a team of Bangladeshi and Australian scientists, revealed that constant rise in sea levels and climate change could bring a catastrophic situation to the mangroves of Sundarban - the iconic Bengal tiger's last coastal stronghold - and the world's biggest mangrove forest.
It has been published in the journal Science of The Total Environment. "Fewer than 4,000 Bengal tigers are alive today," said James Cook University's Professor Bill Laurance, a co-author of the study. "That's a really low number for the world's biggest cat, which used to be far more abundant but today is mainly confined to small areas of India and Bangladesh," he said.
"Spanning more than 10,000 square kilometres, the Sundarban region of Bangladesh and India is the biggest mangrove forest on Earth, and also the most critical area for Bengal tiger survival," said lead-author Dr Sharif Mukul, an assistant professor at Independent University Bangladesh.