Mostafa, a workshop mechanic in Taltali upazila of Barguna, raises chicks that fall from nests broken by storms and rain as if they were his own children, then releases them into the forest. He is currently raising two egret chicks and one cormorant chick, which are growing up in his workshop.

On a visit, the workshop's regular work was going on, with the two egrets and the cormorant wandering around beside it. Mostafa was busy with his work but did not forget to feed the birds.

Mostafa said that alongside his workshop business he sometimes fishes in small canals in the forest along Taltali's rivers and sea coast. Birds' nests in the forest trees are often damaged by storms, and chicks fall to the ground where the mother bird cannot lift them back. He climbs trees to return many such chicks to their nests. But where the nest is completely broken or cannot be found, he picks up the chicks and brings them home, where they are housed in a shelter he built behind his workshop. They are fed from his own food and with fish he catches in the canals.

He said he has released the birds he raised in the past into the forest, and a cormorant and two egret chicks are growing up with him now. The birds are always free and spend their days around his workshop and the surrounding area. So that no one in the area harms them, he has painted them red, so that everyone can tell at a glance that they are Mostafa's birds.

Many in Taltali upazila are charmed by Mostafa's love of birds. A neighbour named Salam Dafadar said that whenever he comes to Taltali bazar he often sees it. "Mostafa is often seen feeding egret or cormorant chicks. If he had not spotted them, they might have died in the forest."

Barguna environmental activist Arif Rahman told Jagonews that forests and forest animals are part of the environment. Amid the way we indulge in a festival of environmental destruction, such love for birds deserves real praise. "We should all keep every source of the environment alive, because only if the environment survives will we survive."

Taltali Forest Department range officer Moniruzzaman, however, told Jagonews that he did not know about the matter. The department has some volunteers for wildlife protection, and if Mostafa is not one of them, appropriate action will be taken.

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