Bengal tiger’s giant leap to freedom into the Bay of Bengal

This is a screenshot from a video, provided by Parveen Kaswan, of a Bengal tiger being released from a boat on what I believe is a river tributary leading to the Bay of Bengal just south of the Sundarbans which is a major Bengal tiger reserve. It is also the home of farmers which is why there are too many tiger attacks on people in this massive mangrove swamp which I believe is the world’s largest.

The Bengal tiger makes an enormous leap from the boat into the sea. It is very impressive. Two things come to mind. Firstly, that Bengal tigers are amazing swimmers and they can swim for several miles in the sea without great difficulty. And secondly, it appears that the wildlife conservation services in that region of the world release Bengal tigers from boats into the tributary because I’ve seen it before in earlier videos. For some reason this Bengal tiger was rescued from some sort of situation which required it’s temporary confinement to a cage before being released into its natural, wild habitat, which is what we see in the video.

Release into the river must be for convenience. The tiger instinctively swims towards shore and races away into the undergrowth. The picture also reminds me of the gigantic leaps tigers have made in the past when attacking big-game hunters on the backs of elephants in days gone by when during the British Raj it was good fun to shoot tigers as pests and many thousands were dispatched this way. I remember one tiger jumping up to attack the shooters in a mighty and brave leap. No doubt he was shot soon afterwards.

In the Sundarbans various methods have been employed to protect farmers and one is to wear a face mask on the back of the head. This helps to put tigers off attacking a person. It seems that tigers become a little bit thoughtful when stared at by somebody compared to when they can stealthily attack from behind. This gives the person time to try and avoid the attack.

RELATED: Man-eating tigers in India 2020

Tiger attacks on the Sundarbans in India and Bangladesh (the Sundarbans straddle the border of these countries) are estimated to kill between 0-50 people annually with an average of around 23 between 1947 and 1983. There are an estimated hundred Bengal tigers in this mangrove swamp. The tigers have adapted to living in an area where there’s lots of salt water.

RELATED: Why do tigers attack humans?

Regrettably, climate change is threatening the Bengal tiger in the Sundarbans. It is another example of how global warming negatively impacts conservation of an iconic species. Climate change is causing water levels to rise which is slowly submerging the world’s largest mangrove forest which is also described as the “most critical habitat of the endangered Bengal tiger”.

 
Tourists flock to the Sundarbans where they cruise around in boats hoping to get a glimpse of a Bengal tiger which is going to be unlikely because the density of tigers in this huge area is very, very low. In all, the area measures about 40,000 km² and the Sundarbans Forest is about 10,000 km². Imagine 100 tigers in that area and then imagine how hard it is to see one. There must be many disappointed tourists.

It is the home to over 4.5 million people. It is also a UNESCO world Heritage site. Below are some more pages on Bengal tiger conservation.