Reunite the tiger family: WTB

The Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh (WTB) has suggested the safe return of the seized three tiger cubs to their mother in the Sundarbans.

“”It’ll be the best option, if possible, to release the tigers in the Sundarbans for their conservation. This is also true that returning them to their mother can be risky as their fate is unclear,” said WTB Chief Executive Prof Dr Md Anwarul Islam.

He said: “It may be that the mother has been killed or she is still alive, as the roaring of a tiger nearby the abduction site was heard a few weeks ago. May be it was the mother who was searching for her cubs. We propose tracing the mother, and if we can find her, we can reunite the tiger family.”

Dr Islam suggested another option of sending the tiger cubs to a specialised tiger rehabilitation centre so that they could grow up more naturally and learn how to be wild tigers.

“This will, in turn, offer them the possibility of returning to the forests when they will grow up. Currently, there’s no facility in Bangladesh that can raise cubs. Such facilities are available in other countries that have tigers.”

He said it is now up to the government to decide the future of these cubs. “A decision must be made quickly as the likelihood of returning those getting thinner with the each passing hour.”

Dr Md Anwarul Islam, a teacher of Department of Zoology at Dhaka University, said the cubs need to be given immediate care to ensure their so that they can survive and grow up without physical or mental illness.