Local police official Harendranath Sarker said authorities recovered six bodies following a gunfight with a gang of suspected poachers in the Sundarbans mangrove forest.
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After the shootout, police discovered the skins of three adult tigers, and seized four rifles and a pistol.
Local authorities have recently expressed their will to put resources and man-power to fight against poaching of the Bengal tiger, which is considered a species at risk of extinction. Six of the seven suspects have been killed once they have been caught within the line of fireside, in accordance with Harendra Nath Sarker, officer-in-charge of the Koyra police.
Six poachers of tiger have been killed in a “gunfight” with police in Mandarbaria Khal area of Sundarbans under Koyra upazila of Khulna.
A recent government survey found that there are about 106 tigers left in the Bangladeshi part of the Sundarbans, which stretch into India.
Some 440 tigers were recorded in the Sundarbans during a census conducted in 2004 in the World Heritage-listed forest, one of the world’s last remaining habitats for the big cats.
Experts say the dramatic slump is down to more accurate surveying methods, but also to rampant poaching.
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Bangladesh has stepped up efforts against poachers since the news of the tiger population’s decline. There are fewer than 2,500 Bengal tigers left in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
