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OPINION

Mindless Cruelty

Aziz Amirul
A front-page photo in The Dally Star of October 30. appeared. undoubtedly, as a blow to the wildlife conservationists and animal lovers of the country. Regular readers of this daily have probably detected the photograph. Yes, It is the shocking picture of a particular species of jungle cat. locally known as Bogdasha, killed and hung by a group of over-enthusiastic village kids at Shambhuganj in Mymensingh on October 28.
However, such Incidents are nothing new In our country. Torturing and killing wild animals have turned out to be a common feature with the people. Specially the children and youth find it to be a bold sport hunting birds and wild animals most of which fall in the list of endangered species like this unlucky jungle cat.
Hunting guest birds during winter is one of the most popu-Jar hobbles and a highly prof-itable Occupation for a certain quartsr, Winter birds of various • types once thronged the marshy lands of Bangladesh in millions t but now lesser number of these feathered friends are seen arriving and even fewer surviving due to the poachers. The world famous mangrove forest of Sunderbans, once enriched with diverse wild Ufe. now holds a few species which too are counting their last days, not to mention the majestic Royal Bengal Tiger. Once abundant, the population of the big cat has gone down alarmingly mainly due to poaching and human habitations encroaching upon the forests. Now even discovering foot marks of a Royal Bengal tiger is quite a tough job for the tourists in the Sunderbans. Deer meat Is easily avail-
able in markets adjoining the Sunderbans. Chittagong Hill tracts, etc. Tortoise meat is a relishing item for a section of euttons and egg of this harm-ss and important reptile is also collected indiscriminately for sale.
Ignorance among common / people about endangered wildlife species is a major factor for their fast decrease. River dolphin, locally called Shushuk or Shtshu. can hardly be found here now, and often news items are published on the killing of dolphins by ignorant fishermen. Very recently, a similar report came out in The Daily Star showing the corpse of a baby alligator or Gharial caught and killed in a fishing net. So far. it was believed that not a single specimen of the Gharial existed in our country and only around sixty specimens of them are presently surviving in the world.
In fact, the above picture Is only a minute portion of the overall grim situation prevailing ■in'-ouriicmmtrylB' environment and wildlife arena. Indiscriminate clearing of trees is going on as usual though presently conditions have improved a bit due to mass campaigning and introducing various Uicenlives for the villagers by the authorities concerned for saving and taking care of trees and creating green belts across the coastal areas.
Only developing a complete awareness among all to protect the flora and fauna anti maintain a favourable bio-diversity — saving the endangered species, working for the cause of the greenery, help reduce man-made polluting factors of the environment, etc. can ensure a healthy future for us and our future generations.