Locals celebrate after killing critically endangered leopard cat in Habiganj; case filed

In a blatant violation of existing laws to protect wildlife and display of disgraceful and inhumane act, locals in Chunarughat upazila of Habiganj today reportedly brought out a procession after killing a leopard cat, a critically endangered species of wild cat.

A case has been filed by the Forest Department in this connection, accusing several hundred locals including two named persons, reports our Moulvibazar correspondent.

The leopard cat was trapped in a net on a potato farm in Kachua village under the upazila around 11:00 am today. Villagers began screaming "tiger… tiger…" and beat the poor cat to death, said Mazharul Islam, a forest official at Saatchhari Beat area.

"The villagers then bought out a procession, carrying the body of the cat and moved around Kachua and neighbouring vilage before leaving it near a graveyard," the official said.

"My office is around 20 km from the area. When I went there after being informed, the cat was already dead," he said.

A case was filed around 7:00 pm today accusing two persons named Rubel Mia and Kashem and several hundred other unidentified persons in this connection under the Bangladesh Wildlife Conservation and Security Act, the beat official also said.

Our correspondent tried to contact Rubel Mia but it was not possible till filing of this report.

"I have never seen a tiger in this region in my 50 years of life. I have heard that locals became panicked finding a 'tiger' in the plantation. I was very skeptical about it and told many of the villagers that it was not a tiger. However, they still beat the cat to death. It was not right," said Abdul Mia, a resident of the village.

"Leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) is a small wild cat species which is protected under the Bangladesh Wildlife Conservation and Security Act 2012, said Rejaul Karim Chowdhury, divisional forest officer in Sylhet region.

"If people kill a critically endangered species and then celebrate by bringing a procession, such species will soon become extinct," he added.