Posted on 20 January
2010 - One of the world’s largest tiger
populations could disappear by the end of
this century as rising sea levels caused
by climate change
destroy their habitat along the coast of
Bangladesh in an area known as the Sundarbans,
according to a new WWF-led study published
in the journal Climatic Change.
Tigers are among the
world’s most threatened species, with only
an estimated 3,200 remaining in the wild.
WWF officials said the threats facing these
Royal Bengal tigers and other iconic species
around the world highlight the need for
urgent international action to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions.
“If we don’t take steps
to address the impacts of climate change
on the Sundarbans, the only way its tigers
will survive this century is with scuba
gear,” said Colby Loucks, WWF-US deputy
director of conservation science and the
lead author of the study Sea Level Rise
and Tigers: Predicted Impacts to Bangladesh’s
Sundarbans Mangroves. “Tigers are a highly
adaptable species, thriving from the snowy
forests of Russia to the tropical forests
of Indonesia.
“The projected sea level
rise in the Sundarbans will likely outpace
the tiger’s ability to adapt.”
An expected sea level
rise of 28 cm above 2000 levels may cause
the remaining tiger habitat in the Sundarbans
to decline by 96 percent, pushing the total
population to fewer than 20 breeding tigers,
according to the study.
Unless immediate action
is taken, the Sundarbans, its wildlife and
the natural resources that sustain millions
of people may disappear within 50 to 90
years, the study states.
“The mangrove forest
of the Bengal tiger now joins the sea-ice
of the polar bear as one of the habitats
most immediately threatened as global temperatures
rise during the course of this century,”
said Keya Chatterjee, acting director of
the WWF-US climate change program. “To avert
an ecological catastrophe on a much larger
scale, we must sharply reduce greenhouse
gas emissions and prepare for the impacts
of climate change we failed to avoid.”
The Sundarbans, a UNESCO
World Heritage Site shared by India and
Bangladesh at the mouth of the Ganges River,
is the world’s largest single block of mangrove
forest. Mangroves are found at the inter-tidal
region between land and sea, and not only
serve as breeding grounds for fish but help
protect coastal regions from natural disasters
such as cyclones, storm surges and wind
damage.
Providing the habitat
for between 250 and 400 tigers, the Sundarbans
is also home to more than 50 reptile species,
120 commercial fish species, 300 bird species
and 45 mammal species. While their exact
numbers are unclear, the tigers living in
the Sundarbans of India and Bangladesh may
represent as many as 10 percent of all the
remaining wild tigers worldwide.
Using the rates of sea
level rise projected by the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change in its Fourth Assessment
Report (2007), the study’s authors wrote
that a 28 cm sea level rise may be realized
around 2070, at which point tigers will
be unlikely to survive in the Sundarbans.
However, recent research suggests that the
seas may rise even more swiftly than what
was predicted in the 2007 IPCC assessment.
In addition to climate
change, the Sundarbans tigers, like other
tiger populations around the world already
face tremendous threats from poaching and
habitat loss. Tiger ranges have decreased
by 40 percent over the past decade, and
tigers today occupy less than seven percent
of their original range. Scientists fear
that accelerating deforestation and rampant
poaching could push some tiger populations
to the same fate as their now-extinct Javan
and Balinese relatives in other parts of
Asia.
Tigers are poached for
their highly prized skins and body parts,
which are used in traditional Chinese medicine.
The 2010 Year of the Tiger will mark an
important year for conservation efforts
to save wild tigers, with WWF continuing
to play a vital role in implementing bold
new strategies to save this magnificent
Asian big cat.
Recommendations in the
study include:
• Locally, governments
and natural resource managers should take
immediate steps to conserve and expand mangroves
while preventing poaching and retaliatory
killing of tigers.
• Regionally, neighboring
countries should increase sediment delivery
and freshwater flows to the coastal region
to support agriculture and replenishment
of the land;
• Globally, governments
should take stronger action to limit greenhouse
gas emissions;
“It’s disheartening
to imagine that the Sundarbans – which means
‘beautiful forest’ in Bengali – could be
gone this century, along with its tigers,”
Loucks said. “We very much hope that in
this, the Year of the Tiger, the world will
focus on curtailing the immediate threats
to these magnificent creatures and preparing
for the long-term impacts of climate change.”
