BAGERHAT, Bangladesh — Forest rangers spotted an adult Royal Bengal tiger walking on a wooden foot trail at the Harbaria Ecotourism Center in the Chandpai range of the East Sundarbans, an unusual occurrence on a tourist walkway, officials said.
Rangers saw the tiger on the elevated wooden trail during a recent routine patrol. No domestic or foreign tourists were present at the time, and no incident occurred.
The rangers did not panic and began shouting to scare the animal. After about half an hour, the tiger slowly descended from the foot trail and entered the deep forest of the Sundarbans.
Md. Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, divisional forest officer of the East Sundarbans division, said rangers at the Harbaria Ecotourism Center spotted the adult tiger on the foot trail on Saturday morning. “The tiger later moved into the forest due to their shouting. This was a truly rare sight, because a tiger had never before been seen on any foot trail in the Sundarbans,” he said.
He said tigers have long roamed freely in the Harbaria area. Tigers are also frequently seen at the center’s pond. “But this was the first time a tiger had been seen climbing a foot trail,” he said.
Local forest officials said tiger sightings have increased recently at various points in the Sundarbans, which is positive for the ecosystem but has prompted precautions to ensure tourist safety.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report