Good News From Bangladesh (?!?) - Tiger Numbers Up In Sundarbans

[hatrack]

DHAKA - "The number of tigers in Bangladesh's mangrove swamps has risen by more than 50 to 419 in the last decade, thanks to the government's steps to save the endangered species, the Environment and Forest Minister said on the weekend.

"The number of tigers in the Sundarbans has risen to 419 from 362 a decade ago," Tariqul Islam told a news conference, announcing the result of a census in the mangroves early this year. The Sundarbans, as the mangrove swamps are known, stretches into India's eastern state of West Bengal, is about 400 km (250 miles) southwest of Dhaka and is home to a wide variety of wildlife, but its chief attraction is the tiger.

It forms a fragile ecosystem that is being ravaged by the pressures of population and the weak enforcement of environmental regulations.

Forest officials said greater surveillance against poachers and reduced human interference with wildlife had helped the tiger population to recover."

EDIT

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/27661/story.htm

[htuttle]

1. I hope that Sundarban tigers can swim!

Everytime I read something about Bangladesh I get depressed, because it's going to be one of the countries hardest hit by the rising oceans. Most of Bangladesh is barely above sea level.

I'll take good news where I can get it, though. Good to hear about the tigers.

[kestrel91316]

2. I think they LOVE to swim!