Date: February 11, 2019
Source: James Cook University
A James Cook
University scientist says the last coastal stronghold of an iconic predator,
the endangered Bengal tiger, could be destroyed by climate change and rising
sea levels over the next 50 years.
"Fewer
than 4,000 Bengal tigers are alive today," said JCU's Professor Bill
Laurance, a co-author of the study.
"That's
a really low number for the world's biggest cat, which used to be far more
abundant but today is mainly confined to small areas of India and
Bangladesh," he said.
"Spanning
more than 10,000 square kilometres, the Sundarbans region of Bangladesh and
India is the biggest mangrove forest on Earth, and also the most critical area
for Bengal tiger survival," said lead-author Dr Sharif Mukul, an assistant
professor at Independent University Bangladesh.
"What
is most terrifying is that our analyses suggest tiger habitats in the
Sundarbans will vanish entirely by 2070," said Dr Mukul.
The
researchers used computer simulations to assess the future suitability of the
low-lying Sundarban region for tigers and their prey species, using mainstream
estimates of climatic trends from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change. Their analyses included factors such as extreme weather events and
sea-level rise.
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