DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Police on Sunday killed six suspected tiger poachers in the world's largest mangrove forest in southwestern Bangladesh, home to critically endangered Royal Bengal tigers. 
 
 Local police official Harendranath Sarker said authorities recovered six bodies following a gunfight with a gang of suspected poachers in the Sundarbans mangrove forest. The 10,000-square-kilometer (3,860-square-mile) forest straddles Bangladesh and India, and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Sarker said authorities found the skins of three adult tigers and seized firearms from the suspects. 
 
 Some local media reported that the suspects were arrested in different parts of the forest before they were killed, but police said they died during the raid. 
 
 Some 440 tigers were recorded in the Sundarbans forest in a 2004 census based on collecting tigers' paw prints, but a year-long survey that ended in April 2015 using video cameras estimated the current tiger population at between 83 and 130, averaging about 106. 
 
 Bangladeshi forest officials say the new estimate is more accurate because of the use of cameras. They and other experts say poaching is a major reason for the decline of the tiger population. ||||| Image caption Bengal tiger populations in Bangladesh have slumped 
 
 Six suspected tiger poachers have been shot dead in a gunfight with Bangladeshi police at a hideout in the world's largest mangrove forest. 
 
 Police seized three tiger pelts which they said were from animals that appeared to be freshly killed. 
 
 The Sundarbans in south-east Bangladesh are home to the rare Bengal tiger. 
 
 A recent survey found that just over 100 were living there - a sharp decline from the 440 animals recorded 10 years ago. 
 
 Experts say the dramatic slump is down to more accurate surveying methods, but also to rampant poaching. 
 
 A local police official, Harendra Nath Sarkar, told the BBC that during a raid, the alleged poachers began shooting and the officers fired back. 
 
 "The gunfight went on for about 15 to 20 minutes. We recovered three tiger skins, and five guns and ammunition. From the look and smell of the skins, it seemed that the tigers were killed not more than a week ago," he said. 
 
 Image caption The Sundarbans are made up of 10,000 sq km of forest straddling India and Bangladesh 
 
 But some local media cast doubt on the police's version of events, saying the suspects had been arrested before being shot dead. 
 
 Bangladesh has stepped up efforts against poachers since the news of the tiger population's decline. 
 
 There are now fewer than 2,300 Bengal tigers left in the wild - mainly in India and Bangladesh, but with smaller populations in Nepal, Bhutan, China and Myanmar (Burma).
– Six suspected tiger poachers in Bangladesh aren't going to make it to trial: Officials tell the BBC that the gang members were killed in a shootout after opening fire on police, and officers found the skins of three endangered Bengal tigers that had been killed just days earlier. The men were killed at their hideout in the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest, where there has been a huge fall in tiger numbers, the AP reports. A recent survey found only around 100 tigers where 440 tigers were recorded in 2004. Some of the drop is believed to be due to different survey methods, though authorities say rampant poaching is also to blame. (In Nepal, tiger numbers are rising amid a "zero-tolerance attitude to wildlife crime.)