The number of tigers has risen, which is undoubtedly a message of hope. But do those who go deep into the Sundarbans every day, catching fish, collecting honey or cutting leaves, still fear the tiger as before, or is the fear now of something else? That question is urgent, especially when on World Tiger Day we say: "More tigers, a richer Sundarbans."

The new survey says Bangladesh now has 125 tigers, up from 106 in 2015. That increase can be welcomed. But the 2004 survey put the number at about 440. The forest was dense and hushed, and the tiger was its silent guardian. In 2009 too it was said there were 400 to 450 tigers in the Sundarbans. Tigers are no longer in the forest as they were, neither in number nor in presence.

The 2015 census found the number had fallen to 106. A 2018 survey then put it at 114. The latest camera-trap survey, completed in March 2024, found 125 tigers. The survey took 318 days, used 1,210 cameras and cost Tk 3 crore 40 lakh. It produced more than 10 lakh photos, 7,297 of them of tigers. These figures are the fruit of hard work, but does this jump in numbers really ensure the safety of the Sundarbans, or of its tigers?

Fear of the tiger is no longer the only fear, as forest workers well understand. They now constantly live with fear of poachers and forest pirates, who set traps deep in the forest in advance and know better than the forest's own people which paths tigers use and where prey can be found. Perhaps, at times, criminal gangs identify in advance the spots where cameras are placed to locate tigers. Tiger parts, especially skin, teeth and bones, sell for crores of taka on the international market. So the fear in the Sundarbans now is really between people.

Outsiders do not sense this fear. For those who cross the rivers into the depths of the forest for work or livelihood, the greater danger to life now comes not from tigers but from people. Those who come to hunt carry modern weapons, data-based maps and disguises. Sometimes locations are identified even before camera traps are set, so the criminals stay a step ahead of the forest guards' technology. Some are caught, some are not. Tigers die silently in traps set deep in the forest. Forest workers know that speaking out could bring harm, and this fear of silence is today the most terrifying of all.

We may be proud of the rise in tiger numbers, but that pride is meaningful only when those numbers are safe: the day forest workers are sure that "there are tigers, yet no fear", and poachers understand that if they commit a crime they will be caught with no way to escape punishment. Only then will the rise in tiger numbers be worthwhile. Unfortunately, we have not yet been able to provide that security. Tiger numbers are indeed rising, but the forest is not safe for them.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.