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 Fauna
According to an estimate
1586 faunal species have been recorded from Sundarbans. Among
these 1104 are invertebrate, 481 vertebrates, and one independent
Hemichordate species ( Saccoglossus sp.). Among
the vertebrates there are records of 165 species of fish,
56 species of reptiles, 163 species of birds and 40 species
of mammals. But this data are not full proof and based on
various sources. Lots of works are still going on and the
numbers are definitely going to rise in the lists of invertebrates,
birds and fishes. We in this web site will update you about
the names and habitat of various faunal groups and preferably
in the form of tabular data. The list is vast and goes all
the way from zooplankton,
benthic crabs, anemones, gastropods to
boney and cartilaginous fishes
to land dwelling large vertebrates.
Many charismatic mega species
of animals reside within the Sundarbans mangrove ecosystem.
Creatures living here include chital deer, wild boars, rhesus
monkeys, olive ridley turtle, river terrapine, dolphins, sharks,
pythons, water monitors, crocodiles and many species of birds.
This area was home to many spectacular species like wild water
buffalo, Javan rhinoceros, hog deer, and swamp deer once upon
a time and still home to many highly endangered
species like Goliath Heron, Adjutant stork, White
bellied sea eagle, Fishing cat and King cobra etc. But the
animal that has brought fame to the Sundarbans, however, is
the Royal Bengal tiger, for which the Project
Tiger was initiated in
the eastern part of river Matla (South- eastern part of Sundarbans)
in 1973 with an area of 2585 sq. Km, the core area of which
(1330.12 sq. Km.) declared as National Park in 1984.The entire
Sundarbans including the protected area of Sundarban
Tiger Reserve was declared as Biosphere
Reserve in 1989. And in 1987 The Sundarban National
Park, forming the core area of the Sundarban Tiger Reserve,
had received the recognition as a natural World Heritage Site
by the UNESCO.
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