Wildlife possession: No legal action taken against lawmaker

Even though Forest Department found and rescued three capped langurs, endangered animals that cannot be caught and caged by law, from a lawmaker's bungalow in Savar, no legal action has been taken against him.

Jatiya Party lawmaker Kazi Firoz Rashid kept the endangered primates caged in his Kabirpur bungalow for around four years, violating the Wildlife Conservation Act-2012.

The punishment for this violation is at least one year's imprisonment and a hefty fine.

The department rescued the animals on July 2 but did not file any case against Firoz.

In the act, capped langurs fall under the schedule-01 category, which consists of animals declared endangered by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Trapping, catching and caging of any animal under schedule-01 is punishable by one year's jail if the perpetrator does it for the first time. In case of repetition, the imprisonment is for three years.

While the act allows people to rear deer, crocodiles and elephants, provided they have a licence to do so, rearing capped langurs is strictly prohibited.

Firoz Rashid, an elected lawmaker from Dhaka-6, told forest officials that the primates were gifted to him. He, however, did not disclose the name of the person who gifted them.

However, asked how he got the langurs, Firoz recently told The Daily Star that such animals are available for purchase in Dhaka. "If you pay the money, they [those involved in wildlife trafficking] will get you what you want... I sourced all [my animals] this way."

About the Wildlife Conservation Act, he said, "How is rearing a crocodile, a carnivorous animal, permitted? What kind of law is this?"

He suggested the law allow people to rear endangered species. "The entire law has to be changed. If you allow people to rear endangered animals, numbers of the species will increase."

Nigar Sultana, wildlife inspector of Dhaka Forest Division (Wildlife and Nature Conservation), said after rescuing the three langurs from Firoz's bungalow, they handed those over to Gazipur Safari Park.

Imran Ahmed, conservator of forest, (Wildlife and Nature Conservation) Dhaka circle, said a team of the Forest Department went to inspect the bungalow after Firoz applied for a deer rearing licence.

"They found the langurs there and explained to him that it is illegal to cage the animals. He understood the matter and handed over the primates to the team," he said.

"He later said in a written statement that he was unaware of the law. As it was an unintentional mistake on his part, we did not take further action," he added.

Sources at the department, however, said they skipped taking legal action to avoid repercussions from the lawmaker.

Sharif Jamil, general secretary of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon, said Firoz was spared due to his position.

"This is another example of how they [people in powerful positions] are let off the hook."

He added, "A lawmaker formulates laws and leads by example by abiding them. If they set examples of disregarding the law, how do they expect people to follow the legal framework?

"If the government does not act on this, this trend will never stop," Jamil added.