The tiger is a large cat and a member of the genus Panthera native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is traditionally classified into nine recent subspecies, though some recognise only two subspecies, mainland Asian tigers and the island tigers of the Sunda Islands.
The Bengal tiger or Royal Bengal tiger is a population of the Panthera tigris tigris subspecies and the nominate tiger subspecies. It ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is estimated to have been present in the Indian subcontinent since the Late Pleistocene for about 12,000 to 16,500 years. Its historical range covered the Indus River valley until the early 19th century, almost all of India, western Pakistan, southern Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and southwestern China. Today, it inhabits India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and southwestern China. It is threatened by poaching, habitat loss and habitat fragmentation.
The Ganges river dolphin is a species of freshwater dolphin classified in the family Platanistidae. It lives in the Ganges and related rivers of South Asia, namely in the countries of India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. It is related to the much smaller Indus river dolphin which lives in the Indus River in Pakistan and the Beas River of northwestern India.
The Sundarbans National Park is a national park in West Bengal, India, and core part of tiger reserve and biosphere reserve. It is part of the Sundarbans on the Ganges Delta and adjacent to the Sundarban Reserve Forest in Bangladesh. It is located to south-west of Bangladesh. The delta is densely covered by mangrove forests, and is one of the largest reserves for the Bengal tiger. It is also home to a variety of bird, reptile and invertebrate species, including the salt-water crocodile. The present Sundarban National Park was declared as the core area of Sundarban Tiger Reserve in 1973 and a wildlife sanctuary in 1977. On 4 May 1984 it was declared a national park. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 1987, and it has been designated as a Ramsar site since 2019. It is considered as a World Network of Biosphere Reserve from 1989.
Sundarbans is a mangrove area in the delta formed by the confluence of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers in the Bay of Bengal. Spread across parts of India and Bangladesh, this forest is the largest Mangrove forest in the world. It spans the area from the Baleswar River in Bangladesh's division of Khulna to the Hooghly River in India's state of West Bengal. It comprises closed and open mangrove forests, land used for agricultural purpose, mudflats and barren land, and is intersected by multiple tidal streams and channels. Sundarbans is home to the world's largest area of mangrove forests. Four protected areas in the Sundarbans are enlisted as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, viz. Sundarbans West (Bangladesh), Sundarbans South (Bangladesh), Sundarbans East (Bangladesh) and Sundarbans National Park (India).
West Champaran is an administrative district in the state of Bihar in India, located just 60 km (37 mi) west of Birgunj. It is the largest district in Bihar with an area of 5,228 km2(2,019sq mi). It is a part of Tirhut Division. The district headquarters are located in Bettiah. The district is known for its open border with Nepal. One of the major location in West Champaran is Kumar Bagh for SAIL Special Processing Unit and Bhitiharwa where Mahatma Gandhi started Satyagrah Aandolan.
The Gandaki River, also known as the Narayani and Gandak, is one of the major rivers in Nepal and a left-bank tributary of the Ganges in India. Its total catchment area is 46,300 km2 (17,900 sq mi), most of it in Nepal. In the Nepal Himalayas, the Gandaki is notable for its deep canyon. The basin also contains three mountains over 8,000 m (26,000 ft), namely Dhaulagiri, Manaslu and Annapurna Massif. Dhaulagiri is the highest point of the Gandaki basin. In its upper reaches, the river is known as Kali Gandaki as it flows through the Mustang district and the famous Kali Gandaki Gorge in Nepal. When the river reaches the Terai plains of Nepal, it is referred to as the Narayani River. This name change typically occurs near the confluence with the Trishuli River at Devghat in Chitwan. Upon entering India, the river is known as the Gandak River.
The Malayan tiger is a tiger from a specific population of the Panthera tigris tigris subspecies that is native to Peninsular Malaysia. This population inhabits the southern and central parts of the Malay Peninsula, and has been classified as critically endangered. As of April 2014, the population was estimated at 80–120 mature individuals, with a continuing downward trend.
Valmiki National Park is a national park and tiger reserve in the West Champaran District of Bihar, India covering 898.45 km2 (346.89 sq mi). It is the only national park in Bihar.
The Terai–Duar savanna and grasslands is a narrow lowland ecoregion at the base of the Himalayas, about 25 km (16 mi) wide, and a continuation of the Indo-Gangetic Plain in India, Nepal and Bhutan. It is colloquially called Terai in the Ganges Basin east to Nepal, then Dooars in West Bengal, Bhutan and Assam east to the Brahmaputra River. It harbours the world's tallest grasslands, which are the most threatened and rare worldwide.
The Upper Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion of northern India.
The Lower Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion of Bangladesh and India. The ecoregion covers an area of 254,100 square kilometres (98,100 sq mi), comprising most of Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar and Tripura, and extending into adjacent states of Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and a tiny part of Assam, as well as adjacent western Myanmar.
The Sundarban Tiger project is a Bangladesh Forest Department initiative that effectively started its field activities in February 2005. The idea for this project was first developed during a field survey in 2001 conducted by Md. Osman Gani, Ishtiaq U. Ahmad, James L. D. Smith and K. Ullas Karanth. They realized that the Sundarbans mangrove forest at the mouth of the Ganges River contained one of the largest populations of wild tigers in the world. As such, there was an urgent need to start measures that would ensure the protection of this precious area.
The Indian leopard is a subspecies of the leopard widely distributed on the Indian subcontinent. It is threatened by illegal trade of skins and body parts, and persecution due to human-leopard conflict and retaliation for livestock depredation.
Tiger conservation attempts to prevent tigers from becoming extinct and preserving its natural habitat. This is one of the main objectives of the international animal conservation community. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has played a crucial role in improving international efforts for tiger conservation.
The Manas River, known in Bhutan as the Drangme Chhu, is a transboundary river in the Himalayan foothills between southern Bhutan, India, and China. It is the largest of Bhutan's four major river systems, with the other three being the Amo Chu or Torsa River, the Wang Chu or Raidak, and the Puna Tshang Chu or Sankosh. It is met by three other major streams before it again debouches into India in western Assam. The river flows for a total length of 400 kilometres (250 mi), including through Tibet for 24 km (15 mi), Bhutan for 272 kilometres (169 mi), and Assam for 104 kilometres (65 mi) before it joins the mighty Brahmaputra River at Jogighopa. A major tributary of the Manas, the Aie River, joins it in Assam at Bangpari.
Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary is located in Bhagalpur District of Bihar, India. The sanctuary is a 60 kilometers stretch of the Ganges River from Sultanganj to Kahalgaon in Bhagalpur district. notified as Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary in 1991, it is the protected area for the endangered Gangetic dolphins in Asia. Once found in abundance, only a few hundred remain, of which half are found here.
Udaypur Wildlife Sanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary located in West Champaran district of Bihar state, India. It was established in 1978, and covers an area of 8.74 km2.
Ravindra Kumar Sinha is a Padma Shri awarded Indian biologist and environmentalist. He served as Vice-Chancellor of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University from 2019-2023 and also served in Nalanda Open University. Previously he was the Head of the Department of Zoology at Patna University, and is a pioneer researcher and wildlife conservationist, famous for his efforts for the conservation of Gangetic Dolphins, he is popularly known as the "Dolphin Man of India".
Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) is an Indian not-for-profit organisation based in Mumbai which was registered in 2002. WCT currently works in and around 160 protected areas across 23 states in India and works closely with government bodies, corporates, communities and local NGOs through funding and technical support, knowledge partnering and consultancy.
