Latest Projection For Sundarban Tigers - Potential Loss Of 96% Of Habitat By 2070 As Seas Rise

[hatrack]

There's no question the polar bear has pretty much lapped the field in the "big, furry mammals at risk from climate change" stakes. But according to a new paper in the journal Climatic Change, there is another, unexpected example of charismatic megafauna whose future may be in question as a result of global warming: The Bengal tiger - or at least, one isolated population thereof.

It's no secret that Bengal tiger numbers have declined; the species now occupies only about seven percent of its historic range and is believed to total fewer than 4,000 in the wild. In Bangladesh, tigers are restricted to the Sundarbans, one of the largest mangrove forests in the world; a 2009 study (opens PDF) estimated the population numbered about 500 animals.

EDIT

The paper's authors used a detailed analysis of the topography of the Sundarbans to calculate the likely impact of increasing levels of inundation. By the time it reached 28 cm, they calculated, available habitat suitable for tigers would have declined by 96 percent, and the population would likely be substantially reduced, to perhaps as few as 20 breeding adults. At that size, the population would almost certainly no longer be viable.

The paper's authors conclude: While tigers are a highly adaptable species, thriving in the snows of Russia to the tropical forests of Indonesia, the Sundarbans ecosystem has become an isolated refuge, boxed in by humans and the sea. Although there is considerable uncertainty regarding the degree of future habitat loss due to , it is still imperative to act now to mitigate the potential habitat loss. If we fail to act globally, regionally, and locally to conserve the Sundarbans, our collective inaction may result in the tiger joining the polar bear as early victims of climate-change induced habitat loss.

EDIT

http://news.discovery.com/earth/flooded-mangroves-disappearing-tigers.html

[OKIsItJustMe]

1. They'll be fine. The seas are not rising.

Didn't you get the memo!?

[tom_paine]

2. "Hi Tiger! Bye Tiger!"

"All I wanted was some fucking mangoes!

"Never get off the boat, never get off the boat!"

[NNadir]

3. They'll be lucky to survive that long actually. That's a great palm oil plantation area.

The tigers of Indonesia are going to go into the gas tanks of German cars on the autobahn.

It's been under way for quite some time and is called the "renewable energy portfolio standard."