Tigers From Bangladesh Are Reportedly Crossing To Sundarbans On Indian Side In Search Of Mates

International borders are only for humans and animals do not play by the geographical markings set by us.

They set their own territories and boundaries - based on several factors including the availability of prey and mates.

Tigers are one such territorial animal but are known to travel to great lengths in search of mates.

BCCL/ Representational Image

Four male tigers spotted since January

Forest authorities in West Bengal are seeing an increase in male tigers from the Bangladeshi side of the Sundarbans entering the Indian side, looking for female companions.

According to officials, these are usually lonely males seeking female mates, and since January this year, they have recorded four such instances of straying.

West Bengal's Forest Minister, Jyotipriya Malik, said these tigers from Bangladesh usually show up on the Indian side during the mating season, which falls between November and January. And because humans and tigers live close to each other in the Sundarbans, the stray big cats also tend to enter the villages.

Tigers enter sundarban villages

In one such instance, a male tiger entered Mathurakhand village near the forest compartments of Pirkhali II and III on the fringes of the tiger reserve area late on a January night and killed a couple of cows and buffalos.

BCCL/ Representational Image

Soma Sorkhel, who has been studying the big cats of Sundarbans, added that one of the reasons for the straying of tigers from Bangladesh might be the fights that take place among male tigers over a female they fancy. Generally, the male tigers who lose the battle of possession have to leave the area after the fight is over. So they enter the villages on the fringes of the forest.

Biswajit Das, the Sajnekhali tiger reserve range officer, points out that a tiger who has been weakened by a fight is not capable of hunting in the dense forest, which requires physical strength, so it turns to the villages to find easy prey.

Sundarban's tiger population is growing

Officials have been trying to establish the pattern of movements of these big cats, but not much success has been achieved.

BCCL

According to the latest findings, the tiger population in the Sundarbans, as of 2020-21, stood at 96, significantly up from 76 in 2014 and 88 in 2018.

The 2022 national census of tigers started in the first week of December 2021. The report is much awaited, for it will confirm if the number has further increased.

(With IANS inputs)

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