An endangered Bengal slow loris was electrocuted in Juri upazila of Moulvibazar on the evening of Saturday, 17 October. It died at the home of Abdus Subhan Mia in Kachurgul village while climbing along a power line towards a tree branch.
Abdus Subhan Mia said two other slow lorises had died at the same spot on separate occasions, and he is worried by three deaths in one place.
Md Sajan Ahmed, the officer in additional charge of the Lathitila forest beat, said the animal died outside the reserved forest boundary. The forest office will write to the power department and ask for a quick fix, he said. Local environmental activist Abid Hossain called for dangerous lines to be identified and made safe.
Wildlife researcher and photographer Adnan Azad explained that slow lorises are nocturnal and use power lines to move about in the quiet of night, which is why they are so easily electrocuted. He wants insulated wire, covered in plastic, rubber or PVC that animals can cross safely, to be made compulsory wherever wildlife moves.
Slow lorises live in the evergreen forests of north-eastern Bangladesh and are threatened by deforestation, shrinking habitat, hunting and uninsulated power lines. The Bengal slow loris is listed as Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List, Azad said.
Reporting: Divisional senior correspondent, banglanews24
Photo: Helena Snyder / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: banglanews24
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