A Royal Bengal tigress caught in a deer poacher’s snare and left to fight for survival is finally on her way home. On July 12, Bangladesh Forest Department confirmed her release into the Andharmanik forest of the eastern Sundarbans, ending one of the country’s most closely watched wildlife rescue stories of the year.
Rescue Against All Odds
The 10- to 11-year-old tigress was found trapped on January 3 near Joymoni Sharkir Khal in Chandpai Range, caught in a wire snare set for deer. Her left foreleg was badly damaged, with veins, nerves and muscle tissue cut, and she was further weakened by days of exposure to the cold before rescuers reached her. She was sedated and rescued by a specialist veterinary team and transported to the Khulna Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre for emergency treatment.
Over Five Months of Careful Recovery
After the fact, the recovery was long and uncertain. Veterinarians fought infection, electrolyte imbalances and impaired blood circulation in her injured leg. Over the next few months, the tigress slowly regained her strength, her appetite, and her natural wariness of humans, all signs that counted as much as her physical healing. By June, doctors confirmed she had fully recovered, but conservationists debated for weeks whether releasing her was the right decision based on her age and the months she spent away from her territory.
Bangladesh’s First Tiger Rescue-to-Release Story
This is the first time that Bangladesh has taken a tiger this far through rescue, treatment, and full release back to the wild. But the Forest Department has chosen to monitor it 24 hours, as it could not fit a satellite collar in time. Twenty camera traps have been installed in an eight-km stretch of forest near the release site. She’ll have a team following her for at least a year, making sure she is hunting, holding territory and settling back into life in the wild.
Why This Tiger Matters
The 2024 census estimates there are only around 125 adult Bengal tigers left in the Bangladesh Sundarbans, making every breeding-age female of outsized importance to the species’ survival. This tigress had already been detected by camera traps in 2024, roaming a 40-kilometre stretch of forest, and was thus a known and valuable member of the local tiger population. Her potential comeback is a rare glimmer of hope for a species under relentless threat from poaching, shrinking habitat and increasing salinity in the mangroves she calls home.
Summary
After nearly six months of treatment, a Royal Bengal tigress rescued from a poacher’s snare in the Sundarbans is being released back into the wild on July 12, in Bangladesh’s first such rescue-to-release operation.
