Guest guest Posted July 7, 2009 Report Share Posted July 7, 2009 I would suggest..dat why the hell don't the forest officials shoot all the tigers that are left around the country..at least they won't have to `race to save the big cats' at the hands of the villagers!!!!! And why do the forest officials act like the police in a bollywood flick..reaching late at the site of the crime????? Warm Regards Radhika Singh http://news./s/afp/20090705/sc_afp/bangladeshwildlifeenvironmenttiger_2\ 0090705031446 Beatings spark fears for Bangladesh's tigers by Shafiq Alam – Sat Jul 4, 11:14 pm ET DHAKA (AFP) – When forest officials in southeastern Bangladesh heard that two tigers had strayed out of the forest and into a remote village they knew they had to act quickly. Though villagers in the area were worried about their own lives, the authorities were racing to save the big cats after a wave of similar incidents in recent years have ended with the endangered animalsbeing beaten to death. In this instance, the tigers were already dead by the time the officials arrived. " Tigers go in and out of villages in the night but if they go in during the day, they never survive. The villagers beat them to death, " said Aboni Bhusan Thakur, the government's chief conservation officer for the Sundarbans mangrove forest. One of the tigers, a five-year-old male, had apparently got lost and hid in a shack, where he was attacked by villagers wielding sticks, spears and machetes, Thakur said. An 18-year-old tigress was also attacked and killed. Police have arrested one man accused of being the ringleader. The story is not a new one in Bangladesh. There have been 14 registered cases of tigers being killed in similar circumstances since 2000. Newspaper reports suggest the real figure is closer to 30 while conservationists say it is even higher. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List, there are fewer than 2,500 Bengal tigers left in the world with as few as 200 of those in Bangladesh -- the single largest population in the wild. A government census in 2004 put the number at around 440. A leading tiger expert in Bangladesh said the beatings were alarming with the species already facing extinction. " If this brutal tradition goes on, the Bengal tiger population in Bangladesh will vanish in decades, " said Professor Monirul Khan, of Dhaka's Jahangirnagar University. " Tigers were in every forest in the country even 50 years back, but now they are only confined to theSundarbans. " He said a steep fall in the population of traditional tiger prey in the Sundarbans -- largely due to rapid mangrove deforestation -- such as deer and wild pigs, was forcing them to look elsewhere. The Sundarbans, a UNESCO World Heritage site, lies on the delta of the great Himalayan rivers -- the Ganges and the Brahmaputra. Covering 10,000 square kilometres (3,860 square miles), it is the world's largest mangrove forest, straddling India and Bangladesh, and without the tigers Khan says the fragile ecosystem of the Sundarbans will collapse. " The whole food chain will collapse. So many species of plant and animals are at risk, " he said. Wildlife expert Mohsinuzzaman Chowdhury said the tiger beatings were on the rise because incidences of the cats attacking humans were increasing as more people were living near the forest, once a no-go zone. Eighteen people were killed by tigers in the first six months of the year and 21 were killed during the whole of 2008, but Chowdhury says are there many undocumented deaths. " These villagers collect honey, timber and do fishing deep inside the forest. Many are killed by tigers, which make them hostile towards the endangered animal, " Chowdhury, formerly with the IUCN, said. Without the mangroves, Bangladesh would be more exposed to the cyclones that hit the southern coastline every year, he said. Experts say Cyclone Sidr, which killed 3,500 people with wind speeds of 240 kilometres (150 miles) an hour in November 2007, would have been much more severe had it not been for the Sundarbans, which cushioned the blow. Another cyclone struck the Sundarbans and neighbouring areas on May 26 this year, contaminating fresh water ponds that tigers drink from. " The forest is still largely uninhabited because of fear of tigers, " said IUCN Bangladesh chief Ainun Nishat. " If the tigers are gone, the fear factor would go and it would take only years to clear out the world's largest mangrove forest. Not only that, there will be no natural saviour for this disaster-prone nation. " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 7, 2009 Report Share Posted July 7, 2009 In 2008, the USFWS awarded 42 new grants from the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Fund totaling $1,863,931 which was matched by $2,593,905 in leveraged funds. Bangladesh alone was sanctioned the following for their tigers. RT-0826 Research component of the Sundarbans Tiger Project, Bangladesh. In partnership with the Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh. USFWS: $35,098; Leveraged Funds: $7,000. To ensure effective tiger management in the Sundarbans this project will continue tiger and prey survey activities to monitor population fluctuations and use these to help identify threats and evaluate management strategies. RT-0830 Conservation awareness, capacity building and project management components of the Sundarban Tiger Project, Bangladesh. In partnership with the Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh. USFWS: $40,963; Leveraged Funds: $7,000. To expand and make sustainable the capacity building, conservation awareness and overall project management components of the Sundarbans Tiger Project. That is quite a helluva lot of money just for Sunderbans of Bangladesh territory alone !! This is just the tip of the huge iceberg of money that is pumped into wildlife conservation in the name of protecting/ conserving this animal not only to Bangladesh but to many of its Asian cousin nations. And in the end what you get to hear are news reports like the one below. Azam On Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 10:56 AM, Radhika Singh <princess_rads10wrote: > > > I would suggest..dat why the hell don't the forest officials shoot all the > tigers that are left around the country..at least they won't have to `race > to save the big cats' at the hands of the villagers!!!!! And why do the > forest officials act like the police in a bollywood flick..reaching late at > the site of the crime????? > > Warm Regards > Radhika Singh > > > http://news./s/afp/20090705/sc_afp/bangladeshwildlifeenvironmenttiger_2\ 0090705031446 > > Beatings spark fears for Bangladesh's tigers > by Shafiq Alam – Sat Jul 4, 11:14 pm ET > > DHAKA (AFP) – When forest officials in southeastern Bangladesh heard that > two tigers had strayed out of the forest and into a remote village they knew > they had to act quickly. > Though villagers in the area were worried about their own lives, the > authorities were racing to save the big cats after a wave of similar > incidents in recent years have ended with the endangered animalsbeing beaten > to death. > In this instance, the tigers were already dead by the time the officials > arrived. > " Tigers go in and out of villages in the night but if they go in during the > day, they never survive. The villagers beat them to death, " said Aboni > Bhusan Thakur, the government's chief conservation officer for the > Sundarbans mangrove forest. > One of the tigers, a five-year-old male, had apparently got lost and hid in > a shack, where he was attacked by villagers wielding sticks, spears and > machetes, Thakur said. > An 18-year-old tigress was also attacked and killed. > Police have arrested one man accused of being the ringleader. > The story is not a new one in Bangladesh. There have been 14 registered > cases of tigers being killed in similar circumstances since 2000. Newspaper > reports suggest the real figure is closer to 30 while conservationists say > it is even higher. > According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) > Red List, there are fewer than 2,500 Bengal tigers left in the world with as > few as 200 of those in Bangladesh -- the single largest population in the > wild. > A government census in 2004 put the number at around 440. > A leading tiger expert in Bangladesh said the beatings were alarming with > the species already facing extinction. > " If this brutal tradition goes on, the Bengal tiger population in > Bangladesh will vanish in decades, " said Professor Monirul Khan, of Dhaka's > Jahangirnagar University. > " Tigers were in every forest in the country even 50 years back, but now > they are only confined to theSundarbans. " > He said a steep fall in the population of traditional tiger prey in the > Sundarbans -- largely due to rapid mangrove deforestation -- such as deer > and wild pigs, was forcing them to look elsewhere. > The Sundarbans, a UNESCO World Heritage site, lies on the delta of the > great Himalayan rivers -- the Ganges and the Brahmaputra. > Covering 10,000 square kilometres (3,860 square miles), it is the world's > largest mangrove forest, straddling India and Bangladesh, and without the > tigers Khan says the fragile ecosystem of the Sundarbans will collapse. > " The whole food chain will collapse. So many species of plant and animals > are at risk, " he said. > Wildlife expert Mohsinuzzaman Chowdhury said the tiger beatings were on the > rise because incidences of the cats attacking humans were increasing as more > people were living near the forest, once a no-go zone. > Eighteen people were killed by tigers in the first six months of the year > and 21 were killed during the whole of 2008, but Chowdhury says are there > many undocumented deaths. > " These villagers collect honey, timber and do fishing deep inside the > forest. Many are killed by tigers, which make them hostile towards the > endangered animal, " Chowdhury, formerly with the IUCN, said. > Without the mangroves, Bangladesh would be more exposed to the cyclones > that hit the southern coastline every year, he said. > Experts say Cyclone Sidr, which killed 3,500 people with wind speeds of 240 > kilometres (150 miles) an hour in November 2007, would have been much more > severe had it not been for the Sundarbans, which cushioned the blow. > Another cyclone struck the Sundarbans and neighbouring areas on May 26 this > year, contaminating fresh water ponds that tigers drink from. > " The forest is still largely uninhabited because of fear of tigers, " said > IUCN Bangladesh chief Ainun Nishat. > " If the tigers are gone, the fear factor would go and it would take only > years to clear out the world's largest mangrove forest. Not only that, there > will be no natural saviour for this disaster-prone nation. " > > > -- http://www.stopelephantpolo.com http://www.freewebs.com/azamsiddiqui Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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