Almost everyone knows that hunting birds is a punishable offence. Yet some unscrupulous traders do not refrain from hunting birds for their valuable feathers and meat.
Bird poaching is rising fast in a beel in Bagerhat. Poachers are using all kinds of new methods to catch birds, including the white-breasted waterhen (dahuk), herons (bok), watercock (kora), bronze-winged jacana (jolpipi) and kingfisher (machhranga).
The Kodalia-Kalshira beel stretches across large areas of Chitalmari, Fakirhat and Mollahat upazilas in Bagerhat. Known as "Joy Khan Jalmahal", it is home to many species of birds. Once known as a safe haven for birds, the wetland has now become a death trap for them.
Traps and recorded calls
Poachers are using traps made of nylon thread which, from a distance, look like power lines strung across the beel. In reality they are traps set to catch birds.
Solar panels and speakers have also been set up at the water body, and calls of various birds are played across it from mobile devices. When flocks hear the sound and fly towards the traps, they fall into the poachers' hands.
Experts say that unless bird habitats are protected, the birds' lives and breeding will be threatened. Without quick, strict action the birds cannot survive, which will harm the biodiversity of the area.
Migratory birds
Every year, during the northern hemisphere's winter, migratory birds come from Siberia, the Himalayas and other harsh, cold regions in search of shelter and food and settle in haors, beels and ponds across Bangladesh.
Though these birds are not native species, they are part of our ecosystem, which helps keep us alive. Experts therefore urge that birds be protected from poachers.
According to recent figures, Joy Khan Jalmahal covers 36 acres in the Mollahat-Chitalmari area, and about 200 species of birds visit it in winter.
Deputy commissioner Azizur Rahman said action will soon be taken against those involved in bird poaching, and drives will be carried out in the beel area if necessary.
Source: Dhaka Tribune. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.
Comments
(0)