The change in attitudes offers fresh hope of preserving one of the world’s largest remaining tiger populations and helps to resolve the deadly conflict between man and tiger.

New tiger-friendly attitudes within one of the poorest areas of Bangladesh mean that villagers are now collaborating to drive tigers back into the mangrove forest rather than kill them. This news comes as figures released show that at least one person has been killed per week over the past six months and there have been 48 goats, 9 cows, 7 dogs, 5 pigs, 1 chicken and 1 sheep killed. Most of the livestock incidences are in Chandpai, which has seen a breakthrough in the attitudes of the people living there. The breakthrough is reward for the Sundarbans Tiger Project’s work to encourage a tiger tolerant atmosphere, and just in time to combat a difficult situation where a tigress has persistently strayed into several villages over a 20 sq km area. “Two years ago that tigress would have been dead by now, directly killed or poisoned,” says Petra Lahann, Sundarbans Tiger Project Co-ordinator on behalf of the Bangladesh Wildlife Trust and Zoological Society of London. “She has been turning up one day in one village and the next day 7km away, killing domestic dogs, sheep and goats within a month. Night by night, for more than a month now, village volunteers have patrolled with Tiger Project and Forest Department staff, chasing the tigress back into the forest”. The change in attitudes offers fresh hope of preserving one of the world’s largest remaining tiger populations and helps to resolve the deadly conflict between man and tiger. It’s also welcome news for WVI, engaged in a long term programme to train Sundarbans conservation and Forest Department staff in how to deal with ‘conflict tigers’ straying into villages and work alongside Voluntary Village Tiger Response Teams (VTRT). Until now, the fate for a straying tiger has too often been death at the hands of a terrified crowd, so teaching key staff how to anaesthetise and remove tigers from villages will help save lives of both humans and tigers. “Although this stray tiger situation is quite difficult, and the loss of livestock costly to local people, the support by the villagers is just remarkable,” said Petra. “Our field team held meetings and ad hoc trainings and was able to encourage a tiger friendly atmosphere in the area. We even managed to find more than enough volunteers for nightly patrolling and tiger response actions. “In contrast to the situation even two years ago, local people don’t want to kill that tigress, but save her. This might be just one example, and it is still a difficult, and so far unsolved, tiger-human conflict situation. “But the change in attitude of those villagers and their great active support in managing the situation gives us the impression that we are on the right path.” No formal VTRT operates in the area, although one is planned by the end of the year as one of 20 new teams right across the Sundarbans to complement the 29 already in existence. WVI director and co-founder John Lewis’s first training course was in 2010. In April 2012, a second and more advanced course was given and a third training course is scheduled for December 2012.