Royal Bengal tiger driven out of forest by cyclone
By IANSTuesday, May 26, 2009
KOLKATA - Cyclone Aila that hit the eastern Indian coast scared a Royal Bengal tiger out of the Sundarbans national park and into an inhabited area in the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest, according to information reaching here Tuesday.
The tiger moved near Jamespur village in Satjelia island where it terrorised villagers for a whole day before returning to the protected forest area, said A. Anurag Danda, coordinator of the Sundarbans programme of WWF India.
The national park has an estimated 200 tigers, the highest concentration in the world. Many of the tigers have turned maneaters.
Danda said a large number of deer had also come out from the national park to inhabited areas Monday, scared by the violence of the cyclone. “Many have gone back to the forest, but some have died,” Danda told IANS.
