Climate change forcing farmers into Sunderbans tiger territory

Climate change is forcing an increasing number of farmers in Bangladesh's southern Sunderbans region to move out of their fields and into the region's mangrove forests, leading to a rise in tiger attacks and 'tiger widows,' according to researchers.

With no other means of earning their livelihood, people of the region are turning to the forests to catch fish and crabs or collect wood and honey for sale.

However that means venturing into tiger territory often with unfortunate consequences even with the dwindling number of Royal Bengal tigers that roam the Sunderbans, experts say.

In a society in which widows are relegated to a low social status and have little chance to remarry, tiger attacks have created new suffering to people already struggling with widespread farmland loss to rising sea levels and salt intrusion.

Tiger-people encounters are not new in the region, but with the rising number of farmers who cannot support themselves from their land and venture into tiger territory, these are becoming increasingly frequent and tragic.

Some farmers, however, have been able to take to shrimp cultivation on their fields, hit-hard by sea water intrusion into underground aquifers and salt water driven into even inland fields during cyclone surges.