Bird-poaching rampant in wetlands

Indiscriminate hunting, trapping and selling of local and migratory birds at different upazilas in Sylhet is posing a serious threat to nature and biodiversity.

Rampant poaching by professional and amateur hunters gets quite unruly during winter, starting from mid-October to mid-March, all over the division.

During this time, the wetlands in higher altitudes dry up, and local birds from the hills fly down to flat wetlands, bottom hillocks and open fields, making them easy targets for poachers.

Moreover, migratory birds from different parts of the world come to Bangladesh, especially to wetlands known as "haor" and "beel".

Larger wetlands like Hakaluki Haor and Baikka Beel in Moulvibazar and Tanguar Haor in Sunamganj host the largest number of migratory birds; while smaller haor and beel spread around the division also host a smaller portion.

Local breeds of wild birds like bittern, egret and Asian openbill stork are also seen in these wetlands.

Environmentalists claim that due to the demand of birds, lack of social awareness about poaching, and rare legal action, poachers consider this an open season for hunting and selling.

In Sylhet, bird poaching is rampant in Tahirpur and Dharmapasha upazilas in Sunamganj; Jaintiapur, Gowainghat, Kanaighat, Beanibazar and Fenchuganj upazilas in Sylhet; Barlekha, Kulaura, Shreemangal, Rajnagar and Komolganj upazilas in Moulvibazar; and Sayestaganj, Bahubal, Madhabpur, Nabiganj and Baniachang upazilas in Habiganj.

Abdul Karim Kim, general secretary of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon's (Bapa) Sylhet chapter, said, “Poachers are mainly hunting different kinds of local and migratory birds like wild ducks, Indian Pond Heron (kani bok), eastern great egret (dhobol bok), Asian openbill stork (shamuk khol) etc. They are also particularly hunting down doves, common myna (shalik), bronze-winged jacana (jolpipi) and many other varieties.”

Kim said that a hotel named Bismillah at Haripur bazaar in Jaitiapur upazila in Sylhet is openly selling cooked local and migratory birds.

At almost all bazaars near national and district highways in the division, sellers are seen selling birds openly all day, especially during weekends. They sell the birds inside Sylhet city and other towns in the division as well.

“The birds are also being sold via social media and phone calls as well, away from the public eye,” Abdul Karim Kim said.

Ashraful Kabir, coordinator of Bhoomishontan Bangladesh, an environmental rights protection organisation, said, “After hunting birds, most poachers blind them by poking them in the eyes with pointed ends of feathers. They do this to ensure that the birds cannot be freed. This cruelty must be stopped.”

According to Section 38 of the Wildlife (Conservation and Security) Act, 2012, killing any wild or migratory bird is a punishable offence, with a punishment of imprisonment for maximum one year, and a fine of maximum Tk 1 lakh. The punishment is doubled if the offence is committed a second time.

The act also demonstrates that collecting, acquiring, purchasing, selling and transporting any wild or migratory bird is an offence with a punishment of imprisonment of maximum six months, and a fine of maximum Tk 30,000. This punishment is also doubled for second time offence.

Advocate Shah Shaheda Akhter, Sylhet regional coordinator of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (Bela) said, “Despite strict provisions in the law, we see that the forest department and the administration are not taking any serious steps at all. Awareness is a must, along with strict legal steps to stop illegal bird hunting.

RSM Munirul Islam, divisional forest officer (DFO) in Sylhet, said, “The forest department has very limited human resources to fight such large scale poaching during this season, but we are trying our best to stop this unethical practice.”

“The Department has a Wildlife Crime Control Unit and I am trying to post the unit at different haor areas in Sylhet for these five months,” he said. He added that Upazila level administration will also be encouraged to take more legal steps.

BROWN HAWK OWL RESCUED AND RELEASED

A brown hawk owl was rescued from a shop and released into the wild in Sylhet yesterday.

Pradhikar, an animal rights organisation of Sylhet Agriculture University, rescued the bird from Kazirbazar area in the city and released it at Sylhet Wildlife Conservation Centre.

Tajul Islam, public relations secretary of the organisation, said that a member of the organisation's rescue wing located the owl and got to know that the bird mistakenly entered the shop. The shop owner had tied it up with rope.

A team of the rescue wing reached the spot, rescued the bird and after primary medical check-up, released the bird at the conservation centre, he said.

Brown hawk owl (Ninox scutulata) is locally known as “khoyri shikre pecha” and is endemic to South Asian countries including Bangladesh.

The brown hawk owl is a medium-sized owl with a hawk-like shape due to its long tail and lack of a distinct facial disk.