KOLKATA: The Sunderbans in West Bengal has more tigers than the mangrove delta can carry, the Wildlife Institute of India has told the state forest department in its preliminary report.
In the report based on the recent tiger census, the WII, entrusted with preparing a report on the surge in human-wildlife conflict in the zone, told the forest department that in the hostile terrain, the carrying capacity is three to five tigers per 100 sq km and in multiple blocks the density is more than that.
As a result, young big cats might be forced to move out in search of new territories and weaker ones might look for a new home with easier hunting skills. At least eight tigers have strayed into villages in Sunderbans since December last year and all of them were captured and released into the wild. The WII has advised the forest department to release the tigers that are captured in those parts of the forest that have comparatively less tiger population.
The Sunderbans, the world’s largest mangrove delta which is home to Royal Bengal Tigers, is spread across 10,000 sq km. More than 4,000 sq km is in West Bengal and the rest in Bangladesh. The Indian Sunderbans is split between the tiger reserve and populated pockets of South 24 Parganas. In the Bengal part, around 1,500 sq km of Bengal’s mangrove delta covers populated areas.
In the 2014 national census, 76 tigers were traced in the zone. In 2018, the number of big cats was 88. The 2020-2021 Census conducted by the state forest department had found 96 tigers in the delta. The 2022 national census started in the first week of December.
The peak density of tiger population depends on several parameters like prey base, human interference, and male-female ration of the tigers, said a forest department official.