Sundarbans

Declared in 1984, it protects the Indian portion of the largest continuous mangrove forest in the world, which carries on into Bangladesh to form a transboundary ecosystem of more than 10,000 km². It is the only known habitat where the Bengal tiger has taken to swimming long distances between islands to hunt, occasionally taking marine prey — behaviour seen in no other population of the species. Living day to day alongside tigers that sometimes come into the villages has produced a distinctive cultural relationship, with rituals and protective deities shared between the Hindus and Muslims of the region.