1,140 footprints found so far
Weeklong tiger census ends in Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans
Staff Correspondent
A weeklong tiger census carried out jointly by Bangladesh and India and funded by the UNDP ended in the Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans yesterday with an encouraging find of 1,140 pugmarks or tiger paw prints."But this is not the final figure as some of the teams who have been collecting the data are yet to submit their reports. We will come to know the final count tomorrow (Thursday) when all figures are tallied up," said Ali Kabir Haidar, coordinator of the 32 teams, each comprising eight members. A given number of pugmarks do not necessarily indicate the presence of an equal number of tigers since multiple marks can come from an individual animal. But the number of paw prints found so far is encouraging enough for the two governments and the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) to want to jointly monitor the world's largest mangrove more frequently to ensure its sustainability. The final result of the census will be disclosed in July after cluster analysis of the paw prints with computers. The UNDP gave $50,000 for the census that focussed on the Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans.
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