Wildlife Institute of India study on tiger density.

Why in news?

• Preliminary findings of a study by Wildlife Institute of India (WII) suggest that the density of tigers in the Sunderbans may have reached the carrying capacity of the mangrove forests.
• All-India Tiger report (2018) put the carrying capacity in the Sunderbans “at around 4 tigers” per 100 sq km while the ongoing WII study indicates a density of 3-5 tigers.
• Carrying capacity can be defined as a species’ average population size in a particular habitat. The species population size is limited by environmental factors like adequate food, shelter, water, and mates.
• It is also an important basis for the measurement and management of human sustainable development.
• Steps required
• New perimeter of defining the peak density of forest should be revised, amidst the increase in human interference for livelihood due to CoVID -19.
• Sustainable land uses to minimize damage and adequate incentives to promote acceptance of wildlife.
• Functional connections between reserves so that tigers can have healthy intermixing of populations.
• New management strategies of wildlife should be decentralized at the local level.

About Sunderban

• It is the world’s largest mangrove delta which is home to Royal Bengal Tigers is spread across 10,000 sq km.
• More than 4,000 sq km is in West Bengal and the rest in Bangladesh.
• It is a biosphere reserve, national park and tiger reserve.
• It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.