Sundarban Safari

asmail iziks kochink 24 months ago

The great rivers of Ganga, Brahmaputra and Meghna drain into the Bay of Bengal in the eastern part of India. A delta is formed at this place. It stretches from the River Baleswar in Bangladesh to the River Hooghly in West Bengal. That’s a huge stretch of land (more than ten thousand square kilometers) with mangrove forests, farmlands, mudflats and barren land. Many tidal streams cut through the delta. Four areas in the Sundarban are UNESCO World Heritage Sites! This is the meeting point of various rivers with the sea – a meeting point of fresh river water and the salt water of the Bay of Bengal.

What does the Sundarban hold?

There are 2 eco-regions here – the “Sundarbans freshwater swamp forests” and the “Sundarbans mangroves”. This is one of the 3 largest mangrove forests in the world. Lots of trees, lots of birds and animals, fish and most importantly, mystery and romance! The most abundant trees are the Sundri tree.

The origin of the name Sundarban for the forest

The name may have come from the Sundri tree there – “ban” means forest and hence Sundarban. Or maybe because of the fact that “Sundarban” means “beautiful forest” in Bangla, the local language. It could also be a common-usage of “Shomudrobon”, meaning “Sea forest” in Bangla. Or could it be from a tribe that lived here called “Chandra-bandhe”. Whatever the story, the name Sundarban is one that evokes curiosity isn’t it?

The history of the Sundarban

This forest has witnessed a lot of history. Right from the 2nd and 3rd century AD. Closer to our times, there are records of the Mughals leasing the forests out. In fact, many escaped to this forest to avoid the armies of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. Then came the Portuguese pirates and dacoits in the 17th century. The British got rights over the forest from the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II around the time of the Revolt of 1757.

This forest houses the Royal Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) and other small cats like the Jungle cat, Fishing cat and Leopard cat. Strangely, the tigers here live and swim around. Their prey is typically, deer, boar and monkeys. There are an estimated 180 tigers here. And about 30,000 spotted deer. Many villagers live in and around the forest. They live off the forest and its produce – fish, honey, wood, etc. There is obviously some man-animal conflict with such close proximity… About 30-100 human lives are lost due to this every year.

The Birds of the Sundarban

Close to 300 species of birds, including many endemic species, make this their home. There are the endemic brown-winged kingfishers, the masked finfoots, ospreys, sea eagles and fish eagles… Not to mention, the ibis, the storks, water hens, kites, coots, pelicans, etc.

The Animals of the water

Again too many to name – from crocodiles to sawfish, various turtles and snakes from the King cobra to  vipers and pythons… Fish are aplenty from the eels to the shrimps, mudskippers  and even the Gangetic dolphins

Abhishek Mishra 13 months ago

Sundarbans is the lungs of West Bengal.????????????????????????

Devansh Buchasia 20 months ago

Very nice place.. should visit it specially in groups