Poisoning kills 13 vultures in Moulvibazar

At least 13 vultures, four dogs, four foxes and some cats have been allegedly killed by poisoning in the Barakapan village of Moulvibazar.

On Thursday, officials of the local forest department collected the dead bodies of the animals and sent them to the laboratory to confirm the cause of their death.

Bottles of toxic insecticides were found beside the dead bodies in a field, they said.

Local residents said domestic animals including goats and hens owned by some people in the area were killed by foxes several days ago. Poisonous insecticides were later mixed with the remains of dead goats to kill foxes.

The death of the vultures and other animals is probably a consequence of the incidents, they said.

Shyamol Kumar Mitra, assistant forest conservator of the Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation Department, Sylhet (Moulvibazar headquarter), said, "We have recovered 13 dead vultures, so far. Our initial assumption is that the vultures died due to poisoning."

He also said that the names of those who are involved in the poisoning of dead goats are not yet known.

Tareq Anu, vice president of Bangladesh Bird Club, said, "Those who are involved with the poisoning must be brought under justice and public awareness programmes should be carried out in this area concerning wildlife preservation."

Simantan Dipu, chief researcher of the vulture conservation project of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, said, "A vulture with a satellite tracking device tagged in its body has been missing for the last 5-6 days."

"This time of the year is considered the breeding season for vultures. The death of so many vultures at this time is a serious blow to the conservation of this creature," he added.

He further said that vultures are listed as critically endangered birds in the International Union of Conservation Organizations (IUCN) list.

According to IUCN and Forest Department data, the number of vultures dropped to 260 in the last census in 2015. Currently, there are about 100 vultures in the greater Sylhet region.

Among them, 70-80 vultures are in the Rema-Kalenga National Park of Habiganj. These vultures roam in different places of the greater Sylhet region including Moulvibazar.