Nature & places

The Royal Bengal Tiger in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh's Sundarbans, the Bengal tiger lives among tidal creeks and mangroves, sharing a difficult boundary with forest-dependent communities.

Bangladesh's wild Bengal tigers live in the Sundarbans, where salt-tolerant trees rise from mud crossed by tidal channels. A tiger here must navigate water as well as land. It can swim between islands, and its movements follow prey and cover rather than the routes used by tourist boats. Seeing one is never a routine part of a forest visit. Spotted deer and wild boar are among its prey. As a large predator, the tiger depends on more than a patch of trees: it needs food, connected habitat and space with limited disturbance. Tracks on a muddy bank can be a more realistic sign of its presence than a clear view through the leaves. For fishers, honey collectors and other forest users, this is not simply a distant wildlife story. Encounters can be dangerous, making safe working practices and support for neighbouring communities essential to conservation. Protecting the tiger means protecting the mangrove system while taking the lives and concerns of people at its edges seriously.