Wild animals and birds are entering the locality from various protected and natural forests of Srimangal due to various reasons including deforestation and food and water shortages. Some of these animals are being caught alive by locals and are being returned to the forest. Being afraid of the wild animals, some people were also killing those.
In addition, by catching those animals and birds, some people are also consuimg those by slaughtering and cooking. The Forest Department, Wild Animal Service Foundation workers and a voluntary organisation entitled 'Stand for Our Endangered Wildlife' (SEW) rescued and recovered 326 wild animals, both alive and dead, from various parts of the district including Srimangal and Kamalganj upazilas from January 1 to December 31, 2024.
Of these, 222 were rescued alive and returned to the forest and 104 wild animals were buried dead. The rescued animals include Monkeys, Shy-monkeys, Fish eating Cats, Leopard cats, Wild cats, various types of Owls, Hawks, Muniya birds, Vultures, Pythons, Takshaks, Conch snakes, Gandhagokuls, Pythons, Red eyed snakes, Gray Phoenimansa snakes, etc.
Some people and organisations working for the conservation of the Lawachhara forests and Wild Animals claim that beyond the list of rescued animals given by the Forest Department, many more wild animals are leaving the forests due to food and water shortages and are being caught and killed by humans. Locals do not inform the Forest Department about dead wild animals out of fear. Apart from this, various types of birds are being hunted and consumed by humans. The Forest Department does not have Statistics on these animals and birds.A local environmentalist and journalist Saju Marchiang informed that the density of the forest area has been thinned and it is now not even a half of what it was some 10-15 years ago. Every forest had sufficient fruit bearing trees, and there was no shortage of food for animals, birda and reptiles.
Even a decade ago, there was no instances of rescuing so many wild animals from localities. But now, almost every day, there are reports of rescuing wild animals in localities. In addition, there was sufficient water in the canals and streams inside and next to the forest during the dry season. Now, there is --shortage of water in the forest during the dry season. The concerned authorities including the Forest Department should pay attention to this matter.
Swapan Deb Sajal, Director of the Bangladesh Wild Animal Service Foundation, said, "In the last few decades, the area of the country's forest area has been decreasing at an alarming rate. At the same time, the habitat, food and drinking water sources of animals have been squeezed. Wild animals often visit the localities after their habitat being devasted or while they are hungry. Many times, some animals die on the roads in accidents or at the hands of humans. When wild animals are witnessed by people in the villages, the panicy people inform us or the Forest Department. When we receive news, we quickly rescue the wild animals and hand them over to the Forest Department. Last year, we rescued several animals from localities in different places and handed them over to the Forest Department. We will continue this activity on a voluntary basis." Jamil Mohammad Khan, Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) of Moulvibazar Range of the Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation Department, said, " We are working hard to rescue wild animals those visit to the locality from the forest. In addition, several organisations and institutions help us in rescuing wild animals. In 2024, a total of 326 wild animals that came to the locality from the forest were rescued. Of these, 222 wild animals were rescued alive and 104 wild animals were recovered dead. The wild animals rescued alive were released in the Lawachhara forest area and the animals rescued dead were buried under the soil. Various steps have been taken in the reserved and natural forests of the district to protect wild animals. A large number of fruit trees have also been planted in Lawachhara and other forests. Work is also continuing to solve the problem of drinking water for animals. We are rescuing the wild animals and also to making the common people aware of the significance of the wild animals, birds and resptiles and to save those.
