Saving Bengal Tigers
Wildlife Crime Control Unit launching today
With special emphasis on saving tigers of the Sundarbans, Bangladesh Forest Department will today launch a new Wildlife Crime Control Unit (WCCU) to stop illegal wildlife trade and related crimes.
WCCU will have seven teams, one for each of the regions of Dhaka, the Sundarbans, Sylhet, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Habiganj and Sherpur.
Each team will comprise 10 members from the department, customs, Bangladesh Police, Border Guard Bangladesh and Rapid Action Battalion.
According to a 2004 joint census of Bangladesh and India, there were around 450 tigers in the part of the Sundarbans falling in Bangladesh. Since then, 32 tigers were killed, 12 by villagers and 20 by poachers, say forest officials of the Sundarbans.
Various recoveries in the last three years indicate that there are organised poachers killing tigers and smuggling out body parts for traditional medical purposes, said Assistant Conservator of Forest Abu Naser Md Mahsin, who will lead WCCU.
The recoveries include three tiger skins and 32 kilogrammes of bones from a Benapole-bound bus, four tiger skulls and tiger teeth from Mongla and three live cubs from Dhaka.
International wildlife smugglers smuggle out the body parts in different forms, including paste and powder, right under the nose of law enforcers.
To prevent the practice, WCCU, with assistance from Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute's experts, will set up a gene bank for Bengal tigers by collecting DNA from recovered body parts or from excreta in the wild.
Tigers are extremely territorial, marking their territory with excreta. “Then, whenever a tiger is captured, killed or a body part is recovered, its identity and territory will be revealed,” added Naser.
The environment ministry, during the launching at the department marking Global Tiger Day today, will also open a hotline, 01755660033, so that individuals can report wildlife crimes.
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