The lord of the mangroves is less elusive than before.
The number of tiger sightings from tourist boats has gone up in the Sunderbans, recent accounts from travellers and foresters suggest.
The mangrove delta, with its intricate tapestry of land and water, is still nowhere near the popular Indian safari destinations in terms of the possibility of catching a glimpse of the Bengal tiger. The terrain makes that impossible.
But a decade ago, there would be long spells with no sightings at all. Not so anymore. With luck on your side, spotting a stripe from a boat is not as rare.
Social media holds a mirror to the change. A Facebook user by the name of Biswajit Mandal posted a handful of pictures of a tiger with two cubs in the Sunderbans on Saturday. He captioned it “Morning Dhamaka, Joy Maa Banabibi”.
Bonbibi is a local legend and is worshipped as the protector of the mangroves.
On December 31, another user, Amlan Dutta, posted a picture of a tiger captioned “dream frame”. It was his “fourth consecutive tiger sighting in different seasons”, the post said.
Forest officials attributed it to the rise in the tiger population in the Sunderbans.
“The tiger is still very shy and solitary. But tourists have been seeing tigers on an increased scale. In the past two years, there have been 150 sightings each year. Before the pandemic, the annual number would be less than 50,” said Justin Jones, deputy field director, Sundarban Tiger Reserve (STR).
The last quadrennial national tiger census had its report — Status of Tigers: Co-Predators and Prey in India, 2022 — published in 2023. Prepared by the National Tiger Conservation Authority and the Wildlife Institute of India, the report estimated 101 tigers in the Sunderbans.
The count was 76 in 2014 and 88 in 2018.
“Because of a rise in the count and density, tigers have to keep moving between islands to keep their territory intact. Tigers are very territorial. The increased movement results in more sightings,” he said.
“Usually, tiger sightings happen when they cross the rivers. Inside the forest, it is so dense that you hardly have visibility beyond 5m. The tigers are spotted (by tourists) when they come to the banks during low tide to cross a creek,” Jones added.
The STR covers around 2,600sqkm. It is made of the Sunderbans National Park (East and West), which is the core area, and the Sajnekhali Wildlife Sanctuary and the Basirhat Range, which form the buffer zones.
The sightings that Jones spoke about were reported only from areas inside the Sajnekhali Wildlife Sanctuary, where tourist boats are allowed. More specifically, around three creeks named Boroghazi, Choraghazi and Dobanki.
A forest guide is supposed to be present on every tourist boat. Any sighting reported from a boat must be updated in WhatsApp groups of the guides and to the forest department as well.
“There is a dearth of guides. In peak tourist season, many boats venture into the waters without a trained guide. So, the official number (of sightings) is the bare minimum. The actual number should be much more,” said Anil Mistry, principal field officer with the Wildlife Protection Society of India in the Sunderbans.
Mistry, now 57, was born and bred in the Sunderbans and has been working closely with the forest department and the local communities for close to three decades.
“You still need luck on your side to spot a tiger,” he said.
Time and tide
The peak season to spot tigers in the Sunderbans is September to December, said forest officials.
There are four tigers — a tigress, her two cubs and a male tiger — that are being seen more often than others, said forest officials.
“These compartments have been open for tourist boats for some time now. The tigers have grown used to the presence of boats. The tourist boats are no longer an intimidating factor for the tigers,” said Jones.
In the Sunderbans, it is not just the time of the day but also the time of the tide that determines tiger sightings.
Veteran foresters and guides said the best time for sightings is when low tide coincides with early mornings and late afternoons and early evenings.
“During high tide, a tiger has to swim a longer stretch to move from one island to another. It feels exposed and vulnerable in the water,” said Nityananda Chowkidar, a veteran guide. He has had at least four sightings this season from the tourist boats he has guided.
The fascinating terrain of the Sunderbans sets it apart from any other tiger habitat in the world.
The only way for tourists in the Sunderbans is along rivers and rivulets, cutting through forested islands.
“The nature of this terrain and the way it is altered by tidal waters together lend an almost mystic character to the Sunderbans. An adage had it that in the Sunderbans, you cannot see the tiger but the tiger can see you. Back in the days, wildlife enthusiasts would not catch a glimpse of the tiger even after repeated visits,” said a retired forest official who spent over a decade in the Sunderbans.
Beyond big cat
But the Sunderbans is not about the Bengal tiger alone.
“Yes, the number of tiger sightings has gone up substantially. But we don’t promise tiger sightings to any guest,” said Swarup Bit, manager of the Waxpol Sunderban Tiger Camp in Dayapur, one of the oldest hotels in the region.
Some of the attractions unique to the mangroves are not too difficult to sight. One of these is the Saltwater Crocodile, the largest of all living reptiles in the world.
The Irrawaddy Dolphin alone is said to be worth a trip, as are the seven types of kingfishers and the endemic Masked Finfoot. The Sunderbans is a treasure trove of birds.
“Tiger is the apex predator. A thriving tiger population means a healthy ecosystem. Tiger sighting is the end result. What people can’t see is the conservation effort that goes behind it,” said Debal Ray, the chief wildlife warden of Bengal.