11 July 2019




Experts say the rising count of people dying in tiger attacks in the swampy marshland of Sundarbans in West Bengal is a result of human residents pushing further into the big cats’ path.

Two women were killed by tigers in Sundarbans in two days adding to the number of people being mauled to death by the big cats to 11 since December 2018.

The Sundarbans is spread over 16,900 sq km, two-thirds of which is in Bangladesh. The archipelago comprising more than one hundred islands is famous for the world’s largest mangrove forest and the Royal Bengal Tiger. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987.

The topography of Sunderbans changed in 2009 when Cyclone Aila brought giant waves that submerged the islands in brackish water, leaving thousands of acres unfit for traditional rainwater farming.

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