Migratory birds have begun arriving in the wetlands and ponds of Chitalmari and Mollahat upazilas in Bagerhat for the winter, and so has the poaching. Using whistles and special devices that imitate bird calls, poachers set traps and nets at night, and the birds are later sold at local markets.
According to Ittefaq's Chitalmari correspondent Shekhar Bhakta, birds are being trapped in Chitalmari's Choddohajari, Sabokhali, Danokhali, Koligati, Ruiyer Kul and Godara beels, and in the deep wetlands around Kapuria, Surigati, Gaula, Nalda, Chander Hat and Kenduyal in Mollahat.
Nirmal Mondal, who lives beside Kendua beel, said the poachers reproduce the calls exactly on special whistles. When birds come at night to feed on small snails, water-lily fruits and insects, they hear the call, drop to the water and are caught. Cotton pygmy geese (balihans), ducks of several species and colours, and birds the locals call kaldiguri, bure and kalkuch are among those trapped.
A resident who asked not to be named said the birds are sold at Faltita, Kendua, Chander Hat, Kodalia, Nalua, Koligati, Bakerganj and other markets. Locals complain that nothing effective is being done to stop the hunting and trade, and warn that fewer migrants may visit the area's wetlands unless the forest department and the administration act.
Chitalmari upazila nirbahi officer Khadija Akter said she led a drive in several parts of the upazila on the afternoon of 10 November and seized materials used to make bird traps. The next morning about eight kilograms of string traps were burnt on the upazila premises.
Photo: Tisha Mukherjee / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Ittefaq
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