KHULNA, Apr 01 (UNB): The tiger census will begin in the Sundarbans, the world's largest and only mangrove delta inhabited by the big cats, this month.
Along with tigers, the government will also enumerate deer and pigs in the delta under the 'Sundarbans Tiger Conservation Project'.
On March 23, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change gave its nod to the project with a three-year timeline.
"The census will be conducted inside the tiger sanctuary in the Sundarbans as well as its periphery," Abu Naser Mohsin, divisional forest area officer, said.
"This project is aimed at collecting updated data on tigers and formulating measures to protect them," he added.
According to him, less, medium and most saline forest areas in Sundarbans will come under the ambit of the survey. "As tigers mostly eat deer, pigs, monkeys and crabs, those will be surveyed too. But that will be the latter part of the census and begin in 2024," he said.
According to the last census in 2018, there were 114 tigers in the Sundarbans. The figure was 106 in 2015.
Under the current project, 200 specialised cameras will be used. Moreover, some 90 cameras used in the 2018 census will also be utilised, said Mohsin.
Other activities in the project would include the training of 340 members of 49 village response teams and 185 members of community patrolling groups.
"At least two tigers will be fitted with satellite collars, which will help us monitor parasite attack on them and diseases. We will collect this data, analyse and publish a report as part of the project," said the forest official.
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