Tracking the Elusive Royal Bengal Tiger

Our first trip in Bangladesh was to the Sundarbans, the largest continuous mangrove forest in the world...and home to the royal bengal tiger. Only accessible by boat, we spent lazy days cruising to and from our destination along the broad murky rivers of Bangladesh. There were only 12 of us on a boat equipped for 35, so we were quite lucky. Passing villages and fishing boats, as our boat plied the waters. River dolphins made brief cameo appearances around our boat, eagles fished in our wake, and the sleepy landscape drifted by. We spent a full day 'exploring' in the heart of the mangrove forest. We took an early morning rowboat ride down a narrow channel, enshrowded in mist. Unfortunately a large group of Bengali tourists on another boat had a similar agenda and broke the magical silence with a motored boat to a nearby destination, gawking at us the whole time as if we were some bizarre wildlife. Once we were past them though, silence returned to the channel and we slowly rowed along watching kingfishers and egrets find their breakfast, spotted deer lurking in the shadows of the mangrove trees, and a few reptiles lounging on branches awaiting the sun's warm rays to start their day. The real excitement was the chance to see a tiger. (Our guide had seen one swim across this same channel in front of the boat the previous year!) On our hike through a grassland to visit the Bay of Bengal, we saw several tracks (and even some scat!) near the trail and all along the beach. There were signs of tigers everywhere...but I knew the odds were unlikely for us to get anywhere near one. Then we set out on an evening walk through the mangrove forest. We had armed guards that accompanied all of our hikes, a requirement for a visit to the national park. I was quite enjoying strolling through the thick growth of the mangrove trees in our small group, avoiding the 'knees' or roots of the mangrove trees that grow up out of the soil to get air in a frequently innundated environment. Suddenly our guide and one of the guards heard a tiger off in the distance. They turned into young children with their excitement, motioning for us all to squat down and remain quiet. The group got all excited and nervous glances were flashed back and forth. We heard periodic growls from the tiger as we continued along the trail, the guards seemingly more excited than any of us. It was completely exhilerating. Of course, the biology nerd in me got all worked up that we were actually 'tracking' the animal trying to get closer to
it. Every part of me was against that....except for the part of me that really wanted to see a tiger in the wild. Not surprisingly we didn't catch a glimpse of the tiger, but heard him (or her!) calling
several times. It was an experience you would never find in the US with all the regulation, etc! I am sure we were quite the sight, this group of westerners led by 4 Bengalis, all creeping along in the forest desperately hoping to get a glimpse of this wild creature. That evening we watched a documentary about the tigers that made me feel even more silly for slinking around in the forest trying to 'sneak' up on a tiger....but it was a memorable experience hearing the tiger roar out in the wild. Even though Bangladesh is one of the world's most densely populated countries, it still is home to some of the wildest places on the planet. The only concern is how long these wild places will remain.