Tiger census in Sundarbans starts in November

The second phase of the tiger census project using camera trapping method is going to begin in November, forest officials informed yesterday.

According to the Divisional Forest Officer, Zahidul Kabir, 89 infrared cameras will be used and 30 field workers will participate in the second phase of the census in Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans that will be conducted till June next year.

In the first phase of the Bangladesh-India joint tiger census project, completed in April, 89 infrared cameras were used to capture tigers' photos within about 3,000 sq km area in Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans. The result cannot be made public yet.

The project is being implemented with financial assistance from the World Bank.

A survey of 2004 showed that the total number of Bengal Tigers in Bangladesh part was 440. The UNDP conducted the census using pugmarks (footprints).

For the survey conducted in this April, a team of Wildlife Institute of India trained forest staff on setting cameras in the forest.