Asian tigers disappearing fast

There are only 4,622 wild tigers left in Asia thanks to poaching and an incessant demand for fake aphrodisiacs and traditional medicines, an international forum revealed yesterday.

The Global Tiger Forum is holding its first general assembly in Dhaka. The assembly runs until Thursday.

Founded in New Delhi in 1994, the forum is an international and inter-governmental body dedicated to protecting what's left of the world's tiger population.

At the start of the century, roughly 100,000 tigers roamed an area that extended from Asia all the way to south eastern Europe and the Caspian Sea.

Today, most tigers are confined to one of India's 25 tiger reserves. There are also substantial populations in Bangladesh (362) and Malaysia (510).

Experts attending the working sessions agreed to help Bangladesh conserve the 362 Royal Bengal Tigers confined to the Sundarbans, the worlds largest mangrove forest and a UNESCO Heritage site.

Over 40 conservation specialists from 14 countries are attending the conference. They include representatives from China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Nepal. Representatives from the World Life Fund and International Union for Conservation of Nature are also attending.

Begum Sajeda Choudhury, Bangladesh's environment and forest minister, opened the assembly. Babulal Marnadi, India's state minister for environment and forest, chaired the session.

BSS adds: Inaugurating the meeting Sajeda Chowdhury said apart from being the national symbol of Bangladesh Royal Bengal Tiger is inalienable part of mangrove ecosystem of the Sundarbans.

She said the safari park at Dulahazra of Cox's Bazar will be helpful in conserving Royal Bengal Tigers through breeding.

Listing different official efforts of the government to protect wildlife in Bangladesh, the minister said positive initiatives were taken to conserve wildlife especially after the enactment of Bangladesh Wildlife (Preservation) Order, 1973 during the regime of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The minister said Government of Bangladesh has launched a Biodiversity conservation project in the Sundarbans worth Tk 380 crore in 1999 with a view to ensuring Biodiversity conservation including the Sundarbans Tigers.

Under the project, she said, present two forest divisions managing the wildlife, forest and fish resources will be split into four forest divisions - the East Sundarbans Division, the West Sundarbans Division, Aquatic Resource Division and Wildlife Conservation and Eco-tourism Division.

Secretary General of Global Tiger Forum SC Dey said honest and hectic campaigns should be launched to stop poaching of Tigers and illegal trade on tiger parts and derivatives.

He said that the tiger loving countries should press the tiger consuming countries to protect the big cats.

State Minister for Environment and Forest Habibunnabi Ashequr Rahman, Foreign Secretary C M Shafi Sami and Environment and Forest Secretary Syed Marghub Murshed and Chief Conservator of Forests, Bangladesh, Mohammad Ghulam Habib also addressed the opening session.