The Forest Department has rescued a five-foot Burmese python (ajgar) that came up out of a beel in Tentulia, Panchagarh.

The snake was rescued from Jhalingigachh in Bhajanpur, Tentulia upazila, on the evening of Friday, 10 November. At noon on Saturday, 11 November, the Forest Department sent it to Ramsagar National Park in Dinajpur.

The Forest Department and locals said residents saw the snake in a beel in the Jhalingigachh area and alerted the Forest Department and wildlife photographer Firoz Al Sabah, who rescued it and put it in a sack. The snake had been injured after getting caught in a plastic ring in the beel. After the rescue, the Panchagarh Forest Department had it treated by Shahidul Islam, a wildlife conservationist and rescuer and president of Wildlife and Snake Rescue. As news of the rescue spread, locals crowded to see the snake.

Wildlife conservationist and rescuer Shahidul Islam said the plastic ring stuck on the snake's body had caused a wound that had begun to rot. "On the forest officer's instructions, we cleaned the wound and treated it. I hope the snake will recover quickly," he said.

Firoz Al Sabah said plastic dumped carelessly is harming the whole of biodiversity. The rescued snake is known as the Burmese python, he said.

Madhusudan Barman, officer in charge of the Panchagarh Forest Department, said plastic stuck on the snake's body for a long time had caused a wound that had rotted. "The snake weighs five kilograms and is about 5 feet long. We treated it and sent it to Ramsagar National Park in Dinajpur," he said.

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