Fishermen hound tiger in Sunderbans river

With a video of a tiger being tormented by fishermen in a Sunderbans river going viral, the forest department today said it would take action against those involved.

The video showed a group of fishermen on a trawler hounded a tiger with bamboo poles and other sticks when the animal was swimming across the river towards Kendo island. The tiger finally managed to wriggle away from the attacks by the fishermen on Thursday.

Field Director of the Sunderban Tiger Reserve Nilanjan Mallick told PTI that according to reports received, the tiger was swimming towards Kendo islands on the western fringes of the Sunderbans when it was hit with bamboo poles by fishermen.

"We will take action under Wildlife Protection Act against those found involved in the incident. We are empowered to take such action," Mallick said.

Sunderban Biosphere Reserve Director R P Saini said "we have taken note of the incident. The Forest department is taking measures as per provisions laid down to prevent man-animal conflict in the Sunderbans and protect the Tiger population in the forest reserve."