The Sundarbans is the only mangrove forest in the world inhabited by Royal Bengal Tigers. The Indian Sundarbans is about 4,000 sq. km, with 102 islands — 54 are inhabited by humans and 48 are protected as the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve. Spotting the tiger here is harder than in any other forest. The Sundarbans tiger is unlike any beast I have ever seen. The tiger on the mainland is leaner, longer in length, with a warm yellow coat. Its Sundarbans cousin is smaller in overall size, but stockier, and more reddish-brown in colour. It lives a much harder life too. Twice-a-day hundreds of kilometres of the forest disappear under the currents of the high tide, pushing the tiger to drink saline waters and lead an amphibious life. The habitat has turned the tiger into an expert, long-distance swimmer that hunts with as much finesse in tidal currents as it does on land. Sundarbans tiger also hunts fish, crab, turtles, and water monitor lizards, apart from the usual chital, wild boar, and other prey including snakes. It can fight with estuarine crocodile for kill. in the past they were infamously called as "Man eaters" as there are history of tiger attacks on the tribal people of the nearby islands. In this image the Tiger was photographed just before crossing a water channel by swimming. And before it crossed the channel, it gave us this glance.