While the world of humans is plagued by Corona virus, there are happy tidings from the world of tigers with the West Bengal government announcing an increase in the number of tigers in the Sundarbans in south Bengal.

The number of Royal Bengal tiger in the Sundarbans has risen from 88 a year ago to 96, state forest minister Rajib Banerjee said on May 6.

“Last year the all-India tiger estimation exercise put the figure at 88. This is the highest increase in one year registered in the past few years,” said Banerjee.

Among the 96 animals, 23 are male, 43 female and the rest 30 are cubs.

The survey using 1,156 trap cameras was carried out between December 2019 and February 2020.

“The population in the Sunderban includes adults, sub-adults and cubs. This is a healthy sign,” said a senior forest official of the state who is not authories to speak to the media.

Spread over 2,585 sq km the Sundarbans is world’s largest mangrove delta and only mangrove tiger habitat in the world. The area that is marked as the habitat of tigers is spread over 1,111 sq km, said a statement from the West Bengal forest department.

The Indian part of the Sundarbans comprises 102 islands out of which humans inhabit around 54 islands. The rest are forest areas.

Incidentally man-animal conflict is a regular feature of the Sundarbans. The area has numerous rivers and creeks that are rich in fish and crabs. Good quality honey is found in many parts of the forest.

Poor people of the area often venture into the forest in search of fish, crabs and honey and easily fall prey to the tigers that even jump on boats that ply midstream. More than 30 people lost their lives in tiger attacks between 2017 and 2019.

Incidentally, the national tiger census is carried out once every four years. But the West Bengal carries out estimation once every year.

India has as many as 2,967 tigers in the wild. According to the tiger estimation released in July 2019 more than half of these are in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, according to the tiger estimation released in July 2019.