Rajbari journalist and animal lover Liton Chakraborty rescued an injured eagle and nursed it back to health. Before it could be released into the wild, the bird suddenly flew away one day without anyone noticing. Liton had given up hope and never expected to see it again, but to everyone's surprise the eagle recently came back to him.

In early July this year, after a call to the 999 emergency number, forest department officials rescued the rare eagle with a broken wing from the Basantapur area of Rajbari Sadar upazila. It was taken to the upazila livestock office for treatment. After first aid, the vet said the bird would need to be kept and cared for over some time, but the office had no facilities for that. The forest official then handed the injured eagle to Liton Chakraborty, known locally as an animal lover, for care. He kept it in a room at his Aram Ghar, a cultural education centre he set up for children, and looked after it there.

About two months later, when the eagle had partly recovered, it flew away unseen. It has now come back. Besides caring for it, Liton feeds it fish fry and chicken two to three times a day.

Liton Chakraborty lives in the TNT Para area of the district town and loves both animals and culture. Children regularly practise cultural activities at the Aram Ghar he founded. With help from its members he is also raising a horse and a foreign-breed dog alongside the eagle. He has previously nursed a cuckoo and various other injured animals and birds back to health and released them.

Aram Ghar members Shamim Ahammed, Rezaul Kabir and Rezwan Hossain said: "Liton Chakraborty's nature has attracted even the birds. That is why the eagle came back after two months."

Local resident Suman Kumar Biswas said: "If you love nature, nature loves people back. The eagle has started to see people as friends rather than enemies. To protect nature, we have to love nature."

"The eagle is much better now and is eating," Liton Chakraborty said. "It is given fish fry several times a day and chicken at night. It is still a little afraid of people, so it is kept locked in a room. Forty to fifty people come to see it every day."

Dr Khayer Uddin Ahmed, livestock officer of Rajbari Sadar upazila, said: "Every animal craves love, and this eagle is an example of that. The bird has come back after two months."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.