Experts who participated within the “Feasibility Study of Transboundary Wildlife Corridor in Chattogram, Chattogram Hill Tracts and Cox’s Bazar with Myanmar and India” say circumstances will not be appropriate at current for reintroduction of tigers in CHT
Tiger of no tiger, securing a connection between our ever-fragmenting CHT forests nonetheless has deserves. Photo: Collected
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Tiger of no tiger, securing a connection between our ever-fragmenting CHT forests nonetheless has deserves. Photo: Collected
About three years again, on 20 August 2020, Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) Md Amir Hosain Chowdhury introduced publicly that the Bangladesh authorities was fascinated with reintroduction of Bengal Tigers in Chattogram Hill Tracts (CHT), the place tigers had been native even just a few a long time in the past.’
He revealed this whereas addressing an e-conference on tiger conservation titled “Tiger Conservation and Community Participation: Transboundary Experience Sharing,” collectively organised by the Bangladesh National Committee of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Asia Regional Committee of the identical organisation.
Amir stated {that a} feasibility examine was underway, and as soon as it was accomplished the next yr, the federal government would determine whether or not or to not reintroduce tigers within the CHT. Experts from 4 tiger vary nations participated within the convention and shared their expertise in tiger conservation.
The “Feasibility Study of Transboundary Wildlife Corridor in Chattogram, Chattogram Hill Tracts and Cox’s Bazar with Myanmar and India” was initiated in July 2020 and was scheduled for completion by June 2021. Later it was prolonged by six months.
The feasibility venture was presupposed to establish potential websites for the corridors to be arrange within the venture space. It would additionally assess the standing of wildlife connectivity and establish potential wildlife habitats. The Bangladesh authorities offered greater than Tk3.81 crore for the venture.
So what occurred to the plan?
Experts who participated within the examine say circumstances will not be appropriate at current for reintroduction of tigers in CHT.
“Area-wise, the forests within the CHT are alright, however the query stays, is there enough prey-base in there for tigers?” Dr MA Aziz, a professor of Zoology from Jahangirnagar University, posed the query.
“If we launch tigers there, spending crores, then if there’s not sufficient prey for the tiger to outlive on, they’ll come close to human habitats, and can get killed,” he added.
Professor Aziz talked about that the time of the examine coincided with the monsoon, so it was troublesome to work within the distant forests. He stated winter is the most effective time for digital camera trapping, which was not doable because of the timing of the venture. He additionally identified that they bought solely two months for the sector work.
Professor Aziz stated, assessing the prey-base, and secondly, building confidence within the native inhabitants, is an important work earlier than taking a choice on tiger reintroduction. But the wildlife hall examine didn’t give a lot significance to those parts, and reintroduction of tigers was not central to it.
“But we did not say releasing tigers in that a part of the land was inconceivable or there was no tiger there. There is proof that there’s a presence of tigers in Kassalong Reserve Forest. But assessing the prey-base extra meticulously is what we underlined again and again, however couldn’t full,” the tiger knowledgeable stated.
Our hill forests are bio range treasure trove. Photo: MuntasirAkash
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Our hill forests are bio range treasure trove. Photo: MuntasirAkash
“Reintroducing tigers in a forest is a mammoth process. One has to absorb consideration the placement of the supply inhabitants of the tiger, the genetic standing of the tiger being translocated, the genetic and well being standing of the pre-existing tiger (if any) within the vacation spot forest and so forth. Huge preparation and analysis are wanted earlier than taking on a venture like that, and we’re nowhere close to that,” continued the conservation biologist.
“We can’t launch captive-bred tigers in a forest, so we should catch new ones from the Sundarbans. How will the residents really feel about it? Will they settle for it? It just isn’t doable to deal with all these in a single day,” stated Dr Aziz.
Cambodia’s dry forests within the Eastern Plains as soon as hosted numerous tigers. Intensive poaching of each tigers and their prey left the forest bereft of tigers. The final time a tiger was noticed in Cambodia was greater than 15 years in the past. The nation has taken an initiative to reintroduce the majestic animal, nevertheless it has not been doable thus far. A memorandum of understanding has been signed between Cambodia and India about translocating a few of India’s tigers to Cambodia, however its realisation is confronted with uncertainty.
India, nevertheless, has reintroduced tigers in its home reserves efficiently, beginning with a translocation venture applied at Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan 15 years again.
Dr Monirul H Khan, one other professor of Zoology from Jahangirnagar University, was additionally a member of the examine workforce. He stated, “We primarily targeted on making a forested hall connecting the pure forests of CHT. We gave precedence on habitat restoration so the prey-base is improved. “
The professor additionally echoed Dr Aziz in saying that there are various levels earlier than planning a translocation of tigers in a brand new forest, which can’t be completed abruptly. In the examine, the specialists advisable the must-dos to that finish, together with sensitising the native inhabitants.
The knowledgeable clarified that appropriate circumstances don’t exist in CHT forests for tigers at current.
“If the circumstances had been excellent, there can be tigers in these forests already, and there would not be a query of reintroduction,” the wildlife knowledgeable stated.
Whether or not there are tigers in CHT is shrouded in thriller. There is theory that tigers do roam throughout the border, as there are some on the opposite facet of it. There are tigers in Dampa Tiger Reserve in western Mizoram, India, which is simply throughout the border close to Kassalong Reserve Forest in Rangamati, Bangladesh. Also, in 2016, an area conservationist group referred to as Creative Conservation Alliance photographed a 13-centimetre pugmark of a feline in Sangu Reserve Forest in Bandarban, which specialists imagine was a tiger.
Dr Khan stated the hall venture has not been kicked off but.
Raquibul Amin, nation consultant at IUCN Bangladesh and head, South Asia Sub-region, additionally stated that the principle objective of the venture was to create a wildlife hall connecting the forests in CHT, which might assist the motion of elephants, and of tigers in the event that they existed.
Raquibul stated IUCN accomplished the examine and submitted the report back to BFD. He additional stated that BFD must work in unison with all of the stakeholders – CHT Hill District Councils, Mochta (Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs), CHT Development Board, DC places of work and above all, native communities to implement such a venture.
“We discovered that CHT has the potential for a tiger habitat. However, whether or not you’ll reintroduce tiger there’s one other query. Will you have the ability to guarantee its safety? Does a reliable administration exist there? Above all, do native individuals need it? We want extra consultations on these points, and that is what we advisable,” Raquibul stated.
Chief Conservator of Forests, Md Amir Hosain Chowdhury, who floated the concept three years again couldn’t be reached for a remark. Repeated calls to his cell phone and official quantity weren’t answered. However, he was lately quoted in a global information outlet as saying that the BFD has retreated from the plan to reintroduce tigers in CHT. He talked about the dearth of prey for tigers within the hill tracts in addition to the presence of human settlements to be the explanations behind the choice.
Some researchers, nevertheless, assume our wildlife programmes are too biased in the direction of tigers. They assume we have to focus extra on different wildlife species nonetheless residing within the nation.
Clouded leapard is a critically endangered species in Bangladesh, photographed in jap hill forest. Photo: Sufal-funded pricey and dhole conservation venture in Bangladesh
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Clouded leapard is a critically endangered species in Bangladesh, photographed in jap hill forest. Photo: Sufal-funded pricey and dhole conservation venture in Bangladesh
“The CHT forests host globally threatened carnivores like solar bears, black bears, leopards, clouded leopards, and wild dogs. The forests have sambars, serows, muntjacs, and boars – evidenced by means of trophies and camera-trap footage. It is excessive time we come out of tiger-centric methods and have a look at the extra urgent issues,” opined Muntasir Akash, an assistant professor of the Department of Zoology within the University of dhaka.
“Nonetheless, securing connection between our ever-fragmenting CHT forests nonetheless has deserves as a result of we have to pay equal consideration to the species that exist already there,” he added.
Conservation in CHT forests is extra complicated than different forests within the nation. Most of it’s categorised as Unclassed State Forests (USF) – protecting about 29% of the full forest land of Bangladesh – which is managed by the Ministry of Land, and never the Forest Department. Besides, a long time of armed insurgency have left many elements of those forests inaccessible to civil administration and vacationers. Many elements of Khagrachhari and Rangamati (together with Kassalong Reserve Forest) have been off-limits to civilians for a similar purpose.
