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Poachers Killing Sundarban Deer Indiscriminately

by Inam Ahmed
Want to hove a feast with deer meal? Then go to the Sundarban area. vtett a village bazar and buy it cheap, not more than take 30 a kg You can buy as much meat as you wish, provided you have money In your waiter
Khasru Chowdhury, a former architect who has now turned an environmentalist, says there ar now about eight hundred to one thousand poadhers tn the four ranges of Sundarban While working on a project to study the socto-btol-ogy of tigers in Sundarban, he found that these poachers lite gaily kill or trap between 75 to 100 deer in a month. Moot of these animals are trapped while the rest arc gunned down
"These poachers kill tndls crlminatcly". says Khasru Chowdhury. They don't bother to find out if the animal is grown up or just a kid or a pregnant one "
These poachers have Inge nious ways of hunting the deer In Shore. Koyra, Bedkashl. Banlakhali. Sutarkhull. Oorui Khali and Sharankhola. they use shotguns to kill the animals. But in Gyanpara.
Chholo Tangra and Itetharghata area, the poachers use a kind of rope net. called "doa" In local dialect, to trap them The ‘malhal* or the hunters on foot shoot the deer They are usually less successful because deer have a sharp sense of smell and hearing. But they have a very bad eyesight and a sense of perspective A deer cannot differentiate between size of objects at different distances. The hunters take this chance and approach the dear. If the wind blows from the opposite direction, the dear will not have any smell. When the dear drops its head to munch food, the hunter lakes a few steps forward avoiding the deer s eye. This way the hunter
goes near enough to get the animal within shooting range The hunters also ambush the trail of the deer Deer usually travel In a line like train. The hunters track the trail and examine the fool print* to find out when they sent this way.
They also examine the »huk> or breathing roots of different trees. If the deer had gone by earlier, they would have left fresh marks on the roots, From these signs the hunters determine when the deer will come back They ambush and shoot them on their way back
Some hunters also climb tall trees and mimic the call of monkeys. The deer come to the trees in the hope of find
Ing some fruits spilled by the monkeys. The hunlers then get a very good chance to shoot them as deer do not look upward
There i» another way of hunting called baon" On some hot and humid nights, the antelope cannot slay in the jungles due to excessive mosquito biles. They come to the bank of the rivers. On such nights, the hunters come hunting on boats They spot the deer with spotlights and shoot them
According to Khasru Chowdhury, who spends most of his time tn the forest track Ing the footprints of ligers, the number of such hunters is
about 150. "The hunters arc not the main killers, The main poachers arc the trappers". He said. There are about five to six hundred trappers."
The trappers with Ihctr "doa" net go to different islands. These nets arc aboul 150 to 200 yards tong. They hang it across the middle of the Island. Then start beau ng "golpala" (a kind of leaf) with saplings of sundari trees. This makes a loud noise and the frightened deer start running Sonic of them get entangled m the net.
The trapper* usually visit the islands twice a month. They slay in the forest for about six days and perform this
rltual throughout their slay. Each night they hang the nets and In the morning they catch the trapped animate.
The trappers enters these islands through Supatl river and through the Tiger Point", said Khasru. Each group of trappers consists of about 15 youngmen."
The deer do not die when trapped In the net. So. the trappers break the animals' kgs and hide them in the hold of their boats. The trappers first put a layer of banana trees in the hold and then pul the lame animals on the layer. Thiy do It so that the injured animate cannot make any notec with their hooves If luck Is
tpod. the trapptob can catch 15 deer a night. Some W the trapped animate get strangulated ateo After Mx or seven days. the trapper* go home with their boat full of prey They keep the animate hidden in their houw* and slaughter them for the market With their legs broken, the animate can survive about ten day* The poacher* carry on their business In collaboration with police", say* Khasru. Killing and selling dear i* illegal and one can be punished up to seven years for the illegal trade Toffee know the poachers very well", he claimed. "From each group of trappers police take 2,500 taka as bribe." Besides selling meal, the poachers also carry on the trade of dear skin These skins are sold to different shops In the country The shop owner* also play tricks to kglttmisc the sale of the illegal skins.
Government at times auctions dear skins seized from the poa«her*. The shop owners who buy these arc provided certificates for each skin. These certificates arc the tricks of the shop owners."
Khasru says. They buy the 6-legal skins and sell them against the certificates. This My. a owner can sc* hasimd. of skins against one »ingle certificate " Tiger skins are ateo sold this way Between 12 and 15 ligers are killed by the poachers each year. Al present. the Forest Department docs not have enough manpower and equipment to stop poaching. The department docs not have any trawler to guard the forest. Moreover, these forest people do not have enough incentive to protect the wildlife", says Khasru.
But this Illegal poaching must stop immediately for the sake of the great Royal Bengal Tigers".
I*oaching ha* already made population of the deer thin in the Sundarban. In the Sarankhota range, the deer population has almost come to zero
"As deer become fewer, the food supply of the tigers
Khasru said ruefully.