Dead bodies of 100 animals recovered from Sundarbans

The death toll of wildlife in the Sundarbans continues to rise in the wake of Cyclone Remal. Till Thursday evening, forest workers have recovered 100 dead bodies of wild animals from various rivers and streams of Sundarban including Katka. Among these dead wildlife are 96 deer and 4 wild boars.

These wild animals, which died due to cyclone and tidal wave in Sundarbans for 36 hours, were rescued from Tuesday (May 28) morning to Thursday (May 30) 6 pm. The recovered wildlife carcasses are buried in the mangrove forest.

Khulna Region Conservator of Forests (CF) Mihir Kumar Do told the media that Cyclone Remal ravaged the Sundarbans in the beginning. At that time the Sundarbans were submerged in high tide for more than 36 hours. Due to prolonged waterlogging of Sundarbans, deer and other wildlife cubs have died.

He also said that 96 dead deer and 4 wild boar carcasses were recovered from Katka, Kachikhali, Shelarchar, Neelkamal and Narikelbaria areas. After that, 18 more live deer and one python snake were rescued in sick condition. Along with these 18 deer, 17 more deer rescued in injured condition have been treated and released in the forest. Apart from this, the forest department said that searches are still being conducted at various places inside the forest.

Meanwhile, brackish water has entered 50 ponds in the Sundarbans. 30 wooden jetties have been damaged to get to and from various forest department station offices. 20 towers for wireless communication at the patrol post were damaged. Apart from this, roads, lamp posts, kitchens, mounds built for sheltering wildlife have been completely destroyed at the station office.

In total, infrastructural damage in Sundarban East and West Forest Divisions has been 6 crore 27 lakh rupees, said Mihir Kumar Do.

Bangladesh /MP