Question

Which is the famous animal in the mangrove forests of Sunderbans?

Answer 1

Hint: The sundarbans is located in West Bengal, India and Khulna district in Bangladesh with the coordinates of – $21^{\circ}$57’ N & $89^{\circ}$11’ E. Some of the animals found in the forests are – tigers, leopards, wild buffaloes, barking deer, wild hogs, and around 248 species of birds etc.

Complete Answer:
- The mangrove forest is one of the largest forests in the world around 140,000 hectare in area and is situated in the delta formed by the confluence of the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the river Meghna in the Bay of Bengal. The forest spans from the Hooghly River of West Bengal in India to Baleswar River in Bangladesh.
- The Sundarbans forest covers an area of about 10,000 $km^2$ of which 6,017 $km^2$ of forest lies in Bangladesh's Khulna Division and over 4,260 $km^2$ lies in West Bengal across the South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas districts.
- The most abundant species of tree are sundri (Heritiera fomes) and gewa (Excoecaria agallocha) and the forest also provides habitat to 453 faunal wildlife, including 290 bird, 120 fish, 42 mammal, 35 reptile and eight amphibian species
- The forest is home to around 180 tigers (as per 2011 and 2015 census of India & Bangladesh respectively) and is also the only mangrove eco - region that harbors the Indo – Pacific region’s largest terrestrial predator the Bengal tiger. Hence, the most famous animal in the Mangrove forests of Sunderbans are the Royal Bengal Tigers.
- The forest is also home to the tropical coastal vegetation found in tropical and sub – tropical areas. And about 30,000 spotted deer, small wild cats etc.

Note:
1. Irrespective of the ban on killing animals in the forest the ecosystem of the mangrove forest has been declining.
2. The four protected areas of the forest, namely – Sundarbans national Park, Sunderbans West, south and east wildlife sanctuaries are enlisted as UNESCO'S world heritage sites.
3. They are considered endangered under the IUCN Red list of Ecosystem (2020).