Biswajit Mondal, Voice 9,
Dhaka Bureau: A monkey cub was killed on the
thoroughfare traversing Satchhari National Park in Chunarughat upazila of
Habiganj. Benu Bhowmick, a resident of Ramganga tea estate who bore witness to
the incident on Friday, provided a poignant account. Benu Bhowmick recounted
that a CNG auto-rickshaw had come to a halt on the road in Satchhari National
Park on Thursday evening. A monkey and its offspring were crossing the street
behind it.
Suddenly, when the autorickshaw reversed, the
wheel ran over the monkey cub. The mother monkey leaped up and seized the
infant, but it was gravely injured. The mother monkey was also severely
injured. When the cub passed away, the mother monkey clutched it by the chest
and retreated into the forest. He also stated that numerous animals in Satchhari
National Park are succumbing to vehicular accidents while crossing the road
almost every time. Many animals are severely injured. However, there is no
endeavor to rescue them. There is no provision for treating injured animals.
Satchhari Range Officer Abdullah Md Al-Amin
stated, "We have been apprised of the demise of the monkey cub. In
reality, the road is an old Dhaka-Sylhet highway, so a plethora of vehicles
traverse it. We are striving to locate the injured mother monkey. However, when
monkeys are injured, they are disinclined to leave the tree. That is why it is
arduous to locate them. Regarding the treatment of injured animals, the range
officer stated that there is a rescue center in Sreemangal in the Moulvibazar
district. Nonetheless, they recuperate more expeditiously in their natural
habitat than by detaining injured wildlife.
Tofazzal Sohel, the general secretary of the
Habiganj chapter of Bangladesh Paryavaran Andolan (BAPA), stated, "This is
a flagrant dereliction of duty on the part of the forest department. Satchari
is a wildlife sanctuary. The old Dhaka-Sylhet highway traverses this forest.
Vehicles drive recklessly while passing through the forest. That is why
wildlife is constantly being killed by cars. Vehicles must adhere to a specific
speed limit to ply on that road. Otherwise, such tragedies will persist.
