On the occasion of International Tiger Day, a book entitled, ‘The Tigers of Manas’ with compilation of articles and images of individual tigers and other animals, was released by Anurag Singh, CCF & CHD (Forest) in BTR.
The book has been edited by Dr. M Firoz Ahmed, Dr. Dipankar Lahkar and Amal Chandra Sarmah,
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
The programme was organised by the Manas directorate at Bansbari Range of Manas National Park which was graced by Anurag Singh, CCF & CHD (Forest) in BTR, Lakhyajit Das, ADC, Baksa, Amal Chandra Sarmah, field director, Manas Tiger Reserve (MTR),
RK Brahma, DFO, Raimona National Park and other range officers and frontline staff of the park were also present in the programme.
Dr. Bibhab Kumar Talukder, Aaranyak CEO; Dr. Deba Kr. Dutta, WWF coordinator, Northern Brahmaputra Landscape; Rathin Barman, director, WTI; Dr. M Firoz Ahmed, scientist F & head, Tiger Research and Conservation Division (TRCD), Aaranyak and Dr. Dipankar Lahkar, Manager, TRCD, Aaranyak attended the programme.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
Besides, Dr. Jimmy Borah, Ivy Farheen Hussain, Aparajita Singh, Binita Baruwati also attended from Aaranyak.
Tiger day is celebrated around the world to create awareness about the charismatic species which needs support of people for its long term conservation.
The programme began with the purpose of the gathering explained by the field director, MTR, Amal Chandra Sarmah.
He said, “Manas is now home to 62 species of mammals.”
CCF & CHD, Anurag Singh said the Manas has very high potential for tourism and BTR will ensure that it is harnessed to the optimum with support from the local communities to make it a true home for wildlife and cultural tourism.
Manas has increased its tiger population from 10 to 48 individuals, which is nearly 5 times the number recorded in 2010.
It became a conservation success story and inspiration for many tiger conservation sites across Asia.
It has received many accolades from the IUCN, though Manas had gone through a trouble period from 1989 to 2003, during which numbers of animals went down because of socio-political conflict in BTR.
During the programme conservationists of Aaranyak, WTI and WWF and range officers of Bhuyanpara and Panbari and frontline staff of MTR were awarded letters of appreciation.
To mark the occasion, Aaranyak also organised an online panel discussion on ‘Tiger and Society’ with the esteemed panellists Dr. M. Firoz Ahmed and Dr. Jimmy Borah of Aaranyak and the session was moderated by Jayanta Kumar Pathak of Aaranyak.
The discussion went live from 7.30 PM (IST) on Aaranyak‘s official facebook page.
The discussion emphasised the major threats to tiger conservation and how the conservationists have been trying for long time to increase the number of this endandegerd species in continuous collaboration with Government departments, local communities and other conservation organisations.