Written by: Shakib Uddin Ahmed
I joined the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), an international organization, a year ago. My workplace is in Khulna. WCS Bangladesh provides technical assistance to the field staff of the Bangladesh Forest Department so that they can properly contribute to wildlife monitoring and conservation.
I often have to go to the Sundarbans for this work. On April 11, I set off from Mongla to the Sharankhola Range. As always, I was accompanied by my boatman Alamgir Bhai.
When I set off in the morning and reached Harintana through the Shyala River, it was afternoon. The daylight had diminished in the forest. Our boat was moving along a 250-foot wide canal. At that time, I noticed an animal moving in the bushes. I looked around and saw that the animal was none other than a tiger.
By then, our boat had moved forward a little. I whispered to the boatman, ‘Brother, I saw a tiger. Take the boat back.’
Every time I go to the forest, I get on the boat and ask Alamgir Bhai, ‘Brother, this time we have to show you a tiger!’ He laughs when he hears me. He tells me stories about seeing a tiger. But we don’t see any more tigers. For some reason, he wasn’t told about it when we came from Mongla. And this time...!
As I pulled the boat back, I saw not one, but two tigers. One was sticking its head out of the bush, and the other was standing a little further away under a golpata tree. One of them was staring at me with a curious look. Perhaps he was observing our movements closely.
I forgot to take a picture of them while watching them. Later, it occurred to me that this time the camera was not taken out of the bag. I quickly took out the camera and attached the lens, and a minute passed. Then I started taking pictures one after the other. In the meantime, their position changed. It was as if they had skillfully hidden themselves in the natural enclosure of the Golpata, Sundori, and Gewa trees. Why do they call them 'secret hunters' anymore! I could not capture them together on camera. I tried to take a picture of one, but the other one got out of sight. As the afternoon wore on, the light also decreased. I had to take pictures and videos of them in low light.
Twenty minutes passed like this. Looking at the tigers' movements, it seemed that they were waiting to cross the canal. We had come and made a mess of it. We were blocking their path by entering their lair! Alamgir started the boat as soon as he told his brother.
By then, evening had fallen. Sitting in the boat, I was trembling with excitement. Did this incredible moment really happen in my life? Thinking about it, I took my camera and looked at the pictures and videos I had taken a while ago. After seeing the pictures, it no longer seemed like an illusion.
At night, I joined the smart team at the Sharankhola range. They were also happy to see the pictures. Many have been working in the Sundarbans for more than a decade. But they have not met a tiger. Some may have seen them suddenly but did not get the chance to take pictures. That too is a source of regret. I felt lucky to hear everyone's regrets about not seeing a tiger.