Littlewhitelies: Sunderbans

Littlewhitelies: Sunderbans : "................ continued from last posts .................. My Tour Memoir DATE: 27 th May, 2010 (2:15 pm) / excerpt from my Tour Diary Salient features of Sunde ... "

Littlewhitelies: Sunderbans

Littlewhitelies: Sunderbans: " SUNDERBAN TIGER RESERVE: My Tour Memoir DATE: 27 th Feb, 2010. (2:15pm)/excerpt from my Tour Diary As IFS Probationers at Indira Gandhi Na..."

Littlewhitelies: Jolly Bouy Island-A&N

Littlewhitelies: Jolly Bouy Island-A&N: "Jolly Buoy Island- Andaman & Nicobar Islands DATE: 1 st March, 2010 /excerpt from my Tour Diary
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olly Bouy…….… this small island with..."

Jolly Bouy Island-A&N

Jolly Buoy Island- Andaman & Nicobar Islands

DATE: 1^st March, 2010/excerpt from my Tour Diary

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olly Bouy…….… this small island with its exceptional natural beauty and giant tropical forest is sought after by tourists. We went to Jolly Buoy Island to study the coral reef through the glass bottom boat. It was a wonderful experience to observe several live fringing coral reefs, fishes and several other associated marine lives. Several species of coral such as plate corals, table corals, brain corals etc were observed. This island has very rich diversity of corals and reef fish which needs to be protected. With the efforts of the forest department not much disturbances is being caused to the marine life in spite of huge no. of visitors’ every day. Its breathtaking beach is ideal site for swimming and snorkeling and often gives you a chance to encounter with wonderful marine animals. Tourists are allowed to swim and snorkeling and diving in the demarcated region. It was sad to know that much of the sand beach went under water during Tsunami. However, not much damage has being done to the forest and marine life in this island. It was a wonderful experience after having exposed to natural beauty of island and rich marine life.

 The beautiful natural mangrove forest and giant Andaman tropical forest represents a unique type of ecosystems and supports an array of wild animals and birds. The mangrove forest can be divided into different zones such as proximal zone which is dominated by mangrove species such as Rhizophora, Ceriops and Aviecinna. The middle zone is dominated by Brugeria species while the distal zone has mainly Xylocarpus and Heriteria species.

Its outstanding beauty, presence of unique natural habitats and presence of critically endangered species of marine flora and fauna, significant geological process and associated species evolution and harmonious human resource interaction, qualifies to be recognized as the World Heritage site.

Littlewhitelies: Sunderbans

Littlewhitelies: Sunderbans: "……………. continued from last posts……………… My Tour Memoir DATE: 27 th Feb, 2010. (2:15pm)/excerpt from my Tour Diary Salient features of Sunde..."

Littlewhitelies: Sunderbans

Littlewhitelies: Sunderbans: " SUNDERBAN TIGER RESERVE: My Tour Memoir DATE: 27 th Feb, 2010. (2:15pm)/excerpt from my Tour Diary As IFS Probationers at Indira Gandhi Na..."

Sunderbans

…………….continued from last posts………………

My Tour Memoir

DATE: 27^th Feb, 2010. (2:15pm)/excerpt from my Tour Diary

Salient features of Sunderban Tiger Reserve

Sunderban Tiger Reserve is a part of largest mangrove delta of the world and it is the only Mangrove-Tiger land in the world. This mosaic of islands intricately carved with rivers and creeks is an Abode of mangrove and highly endangered fauna. It is also a nursery for a number of fishes and other aquatic biodiversity. Above all Sunderban mangroves protect metropolis of Kolkata from the frequent gales and gust originating from Bay of Bengal.

There are two basic mangrove forests with representative flora.

·         Estuarine mangrove formation

·         Riverine mangrove formation

Although there is no human habitation inside, the forest department is faced with several issues since people living in the vicinity of this protected area are heavily dependent on sunderbans. During last 200 years, Sunderban has lost several species such as Indian Rhinoceros, Javan Rhinoceros, Wild buffalo, Swamp Deer and  Barking Deer.

During my interaction with Additional Divisional Forest Officer at Sajnikhali, he said that, in 2009 the forest officials recovered a carcass of tiger and postmortem report found that parts of king cobra and Monocoellate cobra was found in the digestive tract of the dead animal. It was concluded that death of the tiger must have been from the snake bite. It is said that anything under sky is prey for Sunderban tigers. Every year at least 10- 12 fisherman is killed by tigers. Domestic animals lifting and even attack to human is becoming increasingly common over the past years. However poaching is rare in the region. The people living in the periphery has long history associated with tigers and people worshipped tiger as god irrespective of their religion. Although the mangrove forest supports large number prey species such as wildpig, spotted deer, crabs, etc but the thick mangrove makes it difficult to hunt these prey species.

Over the years there has been increasing man animal conflicts and several animals that have strayed out in human habitation were captured and introduced to the wild. In order to prevent straying of animals the forest department have erected 6m high nylon fence which has been quite effective so far.

Tourist Pressure.

Sunderban is a popular tourist destination and almost all people who come to Kolkota make a point to visit this beautiful group of islands. Although forest department regulate the number of tourist every day but it is becoming increasingly challenging for them. There is huge number of tourists’ boats that takes tourist from one inland to another. However not all islands are open to tourists. Huge number of tourists boats and fishing boats move from island to island and is creating lots of disturbance to animals which is also partly responsible for increasing man animal conflicts.

 

Special adaptation of Sunderban Tigers

The Sunderban tiger appears quite different from tigers of Kanha or any other place. It appears quite brown due to bleaching of its fur by high saline condition. It has been observed that these tigers are excellent swimmers and they can swim as long as 6km to reach the other island. This is particularly very important for the survival of the tigers. Tigers are adapted to almost all kind of prey species found in the Sunderban. They depend on deer, wildpig, crabs, snakes, honey, domestic animals, etc. The other animals in Sunderban also are very well adapted to the prevailing conditions. There is no source of sweet water for the animals in the reserve and no arrangement has been made for the animals. All animals are habituated to drink saline water.

While at Sunderbans, have patience to sight wealth of islands such as Panthera tigiris, Fishing cat(Felis viverrina), Leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis),Gangetic Dolphin(Platanista gangetica), Salt crocodile(Crocodilus porosus) ,Olive Ridely Turtle(Lepidochelys imbricate) and many more

Sunderbans

 SUNDERBAN TIGER RESERVE: My Tour Memoir

DATE: 27^th Feb, 2010. (2:15pm)/excerpt from my Tour Diary

As IFS Probationers at Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA) we had a wonderful opportunity to visit Sunderbans in February, 2010. In this I would like to share with you few pages from my tour diary. I am sure that you will definitely enjoy reading it as I take you through breathtaking remnants of nature. It’s simply inexplicable for me to put it in words every moment that I derived from the mysterious beauty of Sunderbans during my visit.  As I passed through mosaic of mangrove covered islands carved intricately by small rivers and creeks, mutely feeling the calm eve breeze passing from leaves to leaves of enchanting Sundari, soothing and retiring her from the day.

Sunderban Tiger Reserve which is known World over for its largest mangrove forest and the only Mangrove-Tiger habitat on earth. Sunderbans is a mosaic of mangrove- covered islands intricately carved out by rivers and creeks. It was established as one of the pioneer Project Tiger Reserves in 1973 and is well protected by forest department despite of increasing pressures. The mangrove-covered islands offer rich mixture of floral and faunal diversity. Over the years it has become an important tourist’s destination due its fascinating landscape and rich biodiversity.

It is spread over an area of 2585 km² and was declared as “World Heritage Site” in 1987. The forest department has already put up proposal to be declared as Ramsar Site. Its name Sunderban is derives from a beautiful elegant trees growing in its forest which is known as “Sundari”(Heritieria sp) in the region. Major parts of islands are dominated by Sundari and grasslands. About 60% of Sunderban Islands is with Bangladesh and about 40% is with India. The water particularly in the Indian region is highly saline. Its high salinity is attributed to slight tilt of the tectonic plate towards India which brings saline water during high tide. Its unique mangrove vegetation is also decorated by a very rich distribution of both resident and migratory birds.

Sunderban is a mosaic of mangrove-covered islands. The mangrove vegetation can be divided into different zones such as proximal, tidal and distal zones. Each zone is represented by different mangrove species. The mangrove has very well adapted to the prevailing conditions such as high salinity and sandy soils. Their specialized adaptation includes viviparous germination, presence of pnuematophores and thick waxy leaves to reduce water loss through transpiration. …………to be continued………………………..