Nepal Sighted Tiger at 3165m Altitude

The forest officials in Nepal have sighted a Royal Bengal Tiger at an altitude of 3,165 metres above sea level. It is a rare and unusual development.

Key Highlights

• This is the first time the tiger has been sighted at such altitude.
• This unusual sighting has raised concerns about climate change and  the impact of global warming on wildlife habitat.
• Nepal’s Forest Department highlighted that the sighting of tiger at the high Himalayan altitude indicated that the Kanchenjunga Landscape of the eastern Nepal needs special attention.
• This forest provide connectivity to Singalia National Park, north Sikkim and Dooars in North Bengal of India.
• The officials further raise concerns that sighting of the wild predatory animal could be life-threatening as well.

How global warming is impacting the habitat?

A study by researchers of Bangladesh and Australian indicates that because of the rising global warming the Bengal tigers in the Sundarbans mangroves might be drastically perish. This will happen in 2070 at least 50 years from now because of due to the rising sea levels. The researchers further predicts that the forest along the India-Bangladesh border will be habitable for the carnivore since the survival becomes difficult for the Royal Bengal tigers in the mangrove forests. The study shows that, the Sundarbans mangrove ecosystem which is located in India and Bangladesh will go through the substantial loss of the forest area by the year 2100 because of rising sea levels. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that sea level is rising due to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. IPCC adds that, 96.2 percent and 99.4 percent of Bengal tiger habitats in the area will be vanished in between 2050 and 2070.