Thaindian News

Kolkata, Oct 23 (IANS) A Royal Bengal tiger, which strayed away from a protected area and killed three goats, was trapped Saturday in West Bengal’s Sunderbans area, a forest official said.

“The tiger, which strayed into Sahibghata and Jamespur area of South 24 Parganas district Oct 19 and killed three goats, was trapped in Sajnekhali,” said field director of Sunderbans Tiger Reserve (STR) Subrat Mukherjee.

He said it was an adult male tiger. Its health was good and it would be released Sunday in the core area of the STR.

“The tiger weighs 98 kg and its body measurement is smaller than the tigers found in other parts of the country,” Mukherjee said.

“After conducting a detailed study we can conclude that the tigers found in the mangrove forest of Sunderbans are nearly half the weight of other wild Bengal tigers (the largest subspecies) which weight 140 kg on an average,” he said.

“The study also suggests that the tigers found in the mangrove forest, which runs from Bangladesh to India, are the smallest tigers in the world,” said the field director.

“The study repeatedly concludes that Sunderbans tigers are smaller in size because of adaptation to its unique mangrove habitat. I have undertaken extensive osteological studies, with available skeletons, which also prove it is a smaller species,” he said.

“We need to find out whether it is ‘Panthera tigris tigris’ or a separate species altogether. We have collected blood, hair and samples for DNA tests,” said Mukherjee.

Tigers from the mangrove forest of the Sunderbans in Bangladesh and India are currently classified under the Bengal tiger subspecies (Panthera tigris tigris) along with tigers across India, Nepal and Bhutan.