Poachers active as migratory birds arrive in Narail

With the beginning of winter, hundreds of migratory birds have started coming to Narail district from different parts of the country.

Like every year, the birds are seen flying and frolicking in the water of the beels. But the biggest disappointment is that bird hunting is rampant in the water bodies of the district.

Poachers are hunting birds from the beels and taking the birds to the markets and nearby villages for sale, said locals.  

Unabated hunting and selling of migratory birds in the district are posing a serious threat to nature and biodiversity, they said.

The poachers have set up traps in the middle of Pateshri Beel in Kalia upazila of the district to catch the birds. The hunters catch around 400 birds from the beel every day and then sell them in different areas.

The poachers played the recorded song of the bird species in the beel. Hearing the chirping, the birds started coming to the traps placed in the beel.

At midnight, the birds get stuck in the traps when the hunters chase the birds, said villagers, adding that thus, the poachers catch the migratory birds.  

Wishing anonymity, a poacher said they were catching birds in the Pateshri Beel by setting up traps. Local people bought the birds from them.

Contacted, Kalia Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md Nazmul Huda said they came to know that such illegal bird hunting was going on. They have already asked the law enforcers for conducting drives there. 

He has recently fined some bird hunters Tk 10,000, said the UNO, adding that they will stop the bird hunting at any cost. 

Narail Deputy Commissioner Anjuman Ara said the executive magistrates are conducting mobile courts to stop it.