KOLKATA: Sunderbans Tiger Reserve (STR) is set to expand its jurisdiction. Additional three ranges in the forest division in South 24 Parganas district, all of them tiger habitats, will soon be made a part of the STR, said an official of the forest department.
“Bengal is going to have a bigger tiger reserve zone in the state’s mangrove region. This will intensify tiger management in the Sunderbans,” a forest officer said.
The Sunderbans, the world’s largest mangrove delta region, is spread over 10,000 sq km and around 4,000 sqkm of it is in West Bengal while the rest is in Bangladesh. The Indian part of Sunderbans is split between the STR and the South 24 Parganas forest division. A formal clearance from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is awaited for the additional inclusion.
The STR, one of the first nine tiger reserves that came into being following the launch of Project Tiger in 1973, now covers more than 2,500 sq km. It includes Sunderbans National Park (East and West), marked as the core area, and the Sajnekhali Wildlife Sanctuary and the Basirhat Range, which form the buffer zone.
The tiger habitat in the South 24 Parganas division includes the Matla, Raidighi and Ramganga ranges. Spread over around 1,100 sq km. The three other ranges—Kultali, Diamond Harbour and Namkhana—do not have tigers.
A summary report of the latest national tiger census said at least 100 tigers were photographed in the Sunderbans. Forest officials estimate a third of the tigers in the mangrove delta region live outside the reserve area in the STR. “According to our estimate, there are at least 30 tigers in the South 24 Parganas division,” said an official.
Post-merger, the buffer zone of the STR will include the three tiger ranges of Matla, Ramganga and Raidighi.
“The STR will cover an area of over 3,500 sq km. The entire tiger landscape of south Bengal will come under unified administrative supervision, under the control of the field director of the STR,” said another official of the forest department.