Some recent controversy has arisen over the work of the Sundarbans Tiger Project, a conservation project based in the Bangladesh side of the Sundarbans.

The issue mainly stems over whether the project is doing good by learning the habits of the majestic animal, or contributing to its demise. Its opponents argue that the drug used in the tranquilizing damages the tiger’s central nervous system. Hossain writes:

Sundarban is a unique place and also the only great ecosystem in the world where Bengal tigers live in saline water system. Life of a wild tiger is extremely challenging and very much depends on the physical and psychological integrity of the animal. For zoo or captive tigers physical wellbeing is enough for her survival. But for a wild animal her physical and psychological performance together only can ensure her survival. There has not been any pharmacological research to find how the above chemicals will affect specially the Sundarban tiger that drinks salt water and eat the intestine of the kill full of mangrove vegetation. Before this research is done and proven safe, there should be no other application of those drugs on healthy tigers in the wild.

However, researchers on the project argue that there is no evidence that the drug causes said damage, and that radio-collaring is an absolutely necessary tool in discovering the habits of the tiger, so that managers can make proper decisions as to its conservation. Adam Barlow writes:

The media has great potential to help in raising awareness about tiger conservation and to garner public support for this precious animal. Conversely, it also has the power to damage tiger conservation by negative and subjective reporting that confuses issues and seemingly deliberately tries to hamper people’s heartfelt and well-thought out efforts to protect the tiger. Surely the job of the newspaper is to provide objective reports on stories so that the Bangladeshi people can use the balanced information to make informed views on a subject.

You can read more from the following links:

• Collaring for Conservation, Adam Barlow’s retort (word document, 300KB).
• Click here for the link to the full article, “Immature science in immature hands?”
• Click here for the link to the original story.

It is our opinion that collaring is necessary and needed for the proper management of the Sundarbans and its wildlife, especially for the Royal Bengal Tiger, who is the chosen mascot of Bangladesh. Without solid research to back up forest management policies, the tigers stand at great risk to human interference. Given the lack of proper management that the forest department has had in episodes previous, we feel that appropriate, international standard scientific research will help conserve one of the last remaining wild places Bangladesh has.

Here’s a video showing the process of capturing the tiger:

Have feedback? Please let us know by commenting.

Tags: Bangladesh,Man-eating Tigers,Radio Collaring,Sundarbans,Sundarbans Tiger Project
Categories: Editorials, Responsible Travel, Sundarbans
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