Tiger, tiger, burning bright

CNN has the story of the Sundarban islands, in the mouth of the Ganges River:
The Sundarbans, a tangle of unforgiving islands at the mouth of the Ganges River, are home to perhaps the world's largest population of wild tigers, as well as millions of the poorest people in India and Bangladesh. Despite decades of attempts to keep the tigers at bay, they still kill about two dozen people every year. Now, experts fear environmental changes and shrinking land could lead to more tiger-human conflicts, with disastrous results for both. Villagers who can no longer grow enough crops are venturing into the tigers' domain in search of fish, crabs and honey to sell. And tigers are creeping ever closer to villagers in search of fresh water and food, according to scientists who track their movement.
In the Sundarbans, whose 3,700-square-mile mangrove forest is the world's largest, families scrape by as stubborn rice farmers, overmatched fishermen, and barefoot honey collectors. Nearly everyone has a friend or a relative who was attacked by a tiger. There are believed to be close to 250 tigers on the Indian side of the Sundarbans, and another 250 on the Bangladesh side.
Most people feel their best defense is the blessing of Bon Bibi, the forest goddess, who controls the tigers, snakes, sharks and crocodiles that roam her kingdom. Before venturing into the fickle woods, which are reshaped constantly by the tides and shifting sands, they visit her shrine and ask for her protection. But the bright-eyed goddess' job is getting harder.
Rising sea levels, erosion and increasingly brackish waters have ruined once-dependable crops, forcing farmers into the forest to forage. Scientists say global warming has contributed to the Bay of Bengal rising more than three millimeters a year, causing more floods. One of the largest islands is predicted to shrink by 15 percent by 2020.
The tigers are suffering from the changes, too. Once more commonly spotted in the south, where no humans live, they have been increasingly seen in northern woods, closer to the inhabited islands.
Despite the fear, the villagers also prize the tigers because they know the beasts are all that's keeping the crowded outside world from encroaching on their homes. "Without the tiger," said Bish Tarafdar, a fisherman who was mauled last year, "there would be no jungle." He's almost certainly right. As India industrializes, it is facing serious deforestation problems elsewhere.
As hard as life is, the villagers can't leave the Sundarbans because they have nowhere else to go. Many are descended from families that came here generations ago as landless migrants from Bangladesh or rural east India. This menacing forest was the last frontier, and their last chance.
The Sundarbans may be where the tiger also makes its last stand. There are only 1,500 left in India's reserves and jungles, down from about 3,600 six years ago and an estimated 100,000 a century ago. The tigers have adapted to the harsh environment by learning to eat fish and crabs, swim against powerful currents, and drink salty water.