Kultali, 11th December, 2023: A male Bengal Tiger, that was reported near human habitation, was guided back to the safety of the protected area in the Sundarbans National Park by the West Bengal Forest Department, assisted by Wildlife Trust of India’s (WTI) Rapid Response Team (RRT).

The animal was first reported near the fringe forests of Bhubaneshwari village block on the 8th of December. The tiger had entered the village side mangrove patches of Gorer Chawk, Bhubaneshwari, Kultali by crossing Makri River. This posed a serious threat to the lives of the villagers while also endangering the life of the tiger. An intricate network of waterways all around, also presented a formidable challenge to the rescue team. A call for action was strategised to extricate the tiger from its precarious situation. WTI’s Primary Response Team (PRT) and Rapid Response Team (RRT) units actively operated and assisted the Forest Department for the on-ground action required.

WTI’s RRT team tracking the tiger | Photograph by Samrat Paul/WTI

Navigating the labyrinth of narrow channels and dense vegetation, the rescue team worked tirelessly since the early hours of the 9th, to locate the stranded feline through foot and boat patrolling. A drone was also used for this purpose but we unable to locate the animal due to the dense mangrove canopy. Armed with patience and expertise, the team carefully manoeuvred the complex terrain, mindful of the presence of the carnivore. After confirmation of the presence of the tiger, marked by fresh pugmarks, the ground team fenced the area with nylon net while allowing its safe passage towards the forests, without the need for capturing. It took two days of careful planning to place the nets in place.

Next morning, on the 11th of December, the driving operation started by narrowing the fence. A team of volunteers, led by the forest department and WTI’s RRT and PRT members, started closing in on the animal. Tranquilizer guns were also prepared to meet emergency needs., The nylon nets were strategically shifted and positioned to ensure the safety of both the rescuers and the magnificent creature. As the village and the forest are separated by the river, it was easy to eventually drive the tiger from the village side mangrove patch to the forest side rather than capturing it.

Finally, around 9 AM in the morning, we witnessed a big head swimming in the river and WTI’s RRT boat was ready to drive the tiger further across the river so that it couldn’t swim back to the village side. Within three minutes, the tiger has crossed the channel towards the mangrove jungles. The nylon fence was lowered on the forest fringes to ensure that the tiger was restricted to the protected patches of the forest.

“Despite being under tremendous pressure, the rescue team was ably guided by DFO 24 Parganas (South) Division and led by ADFO Dr. Anurag Choudhary on the ground. Keeping the well being of the tiger as priority, the team adopted a strategy to swiftly guide the animal back to the wild”, said Prosenjit Sheel, head of WTI’s Sundarbans Tiger Project. Milan Kanti Mandal, DFO, South 24 Parganas and ADFO Dr. Anurag Chaudhury expressed their thanks to WTI for supporting them through the exercise.

The Bengal tiger crossing the channel to the forested patch | Photograph by Samrat Paul/WTI

This incident in the Sundarbans serves as a poignant reminder of the challenges faced by both humans and wildlife in such delicate ecosystems. It is only through collaborative efforts and a deep respect for the natural world, that communities can strive to ensure that such remarkable creatures continue to roam freely and humans coexist in these unique landscapes. WTI’s PRT (Primary Response Team) units have been serving as the bridge between the community and the forest department to handle such situations and ensure that human-wildlife conflict resolution sees positive contributions from all stakeholders.

The Sundarbans Tiger Project is supported by German Co-operation, Kfw, IUCN and West Bengal Forest Department under ITHCP (Integrated Tiger Habitat Conservation Program).The Sundarban Tiger Project aims at developing infrastructure to support the government for managing human-tiger conflicts as well as develop select village communities at various levels along with also addressing three issues – losses incurred due to human-tiger conflicts, poverty of fringe village dwellers as well as the emergent climate change related crises.