Poachers kill 49 tigers in last 14 yrs in Sundarbans

BAGERHAT, Jan 16 (UNB): Though the government has taken various measures to protect the Bengal Tiger in the Sundarbans, its poaching is on the rise with 49 being killed in the last 14 years (2001-2014), according to Forest Department data.
Among the 49 tigers, 17 were directly killed in the Sundarbans East Zone of the Forest Department while 15 tigers in the Sundarbans West Zone.
According to its data, the Forest Department recovered 17 tiger skins from different parts of the country during the period (2001-2014) while being smuggled out of the country.
On Tuesday night, members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested three members of a tiger poachers' gang along with a tiger hide, teeth and some bones of tiger from a bus stand in Morelganj upazila of the district.
According to an official survey conducted in 2004, there were 440 tigers in the Sundarbans, the country's only natural tiger habitat with a range of 6,017 square kilometres.
Although official data shows that some 49 tigers were killed in last 14 years, the forest people who live in the Sundarbans from generation to generation claim that the number of poached tigers would be much higher than the forest department data.