Wildlife at Modhupur Forest is facing the threat of extinction as those are frequently being hunted by men or dying by being crushed under the wheels of vehicles since the wild animals are frequently visiting human habitation in search of food.
It is learnt, due to the ongoing Cornavirus crisis, the movement of tourists inside the Modhupur Forest has been totally reduced. Many tourists used to supply foods to those wild animals. As a result of the absence of tourists, various species of wild animals from inside the forest are coming out and moving through the locality in search of food in a large number.
According to sources, a large number of tourists used to visit Modhupur Forest daily to watch its beautiful natural surroundings and visited Modhupur Deer Breeding Centre at Lohuria in the forest.
The forest being a sanctuary, varieties of wildlife including Deer, Baboon and Monkey used to come close to the visitors as the visitors used to serve those animals with Banana, Biscuit, Chips, Loaves and other foods. Many mobile and make-shift shop owners also managed their livelihood by selling those items to visitors.
Due to panic of being infected with Coronavirus, the local administration has imposed a ban on the movement of visitors inside the forest resulting in an empty tourists' spots like Madhupur National Garden (Madhupur Jatiya Uddyan), Dokhla Picnic Spot, Lahuria Deer Breeding Centre as well as Zoo.
Moreover, the food that is supplied by the government for wild animals is also meagre in quantity . As a result, wildlife including the Baboon, Monkeys, deer and birds are facing an acute scarcity of food inside the forest.
Moreover, trees like Teak-Gozari, Kaika, Saida, Ajuli, Joyna, Bhutum, Kumbhi, Jiga, Sonalu and Senduri of Dhokhla, National Sadar Garden, Charalgani and Rasulpur Range under Madhupur forest have also been felled and devastated.
Wild animals used to survive by eating leaves, fruits and barks of those trees but now they are suffering from shortages of those natural foods. As a result, those wild animals are scuttling for food inside the forest and finding no sufficient food there, they were intruding into the human habitation.
Makeshift shop owners Rafiqul Islam, Malek, Babul and Gour at Modhupur Forest said, their income has been totally suspended following the Coronavirus situation. The goods inside the shops are also being rotten as they can not open those.
Employees of Santoshpur Rubber Garden informed, a large number of people used to visit the forest daily to watch Baboon, Money and other wild animals there and they enjoyed by offering those animals with Banana, Cake, Biscuit and loaf.
But, now the entrance of the visitors in the forest being banned due to Corona crisis, those animals are also being deprived of supply of those extra foods.
People living adjacent villages to the forest informed, there having a crisis of food inside the forest, Baboons and Monkey in groups are storming to neighbouring Pine-apple, Banana, Lemon and vegetable fields and eating and damaging those.
Tio get rid of the menace of those wild animals, many of the orchard owners use ' Poison Bait' and thus killing those animals. Also, many of those animals are dying by being crushed under the wheels of the speedy vehicles while attempting to cross the Tangail-Mymenshingh regional highway passing through the forest.
Khaliduzzaman Manik, a YES member of TIB informed, he watched dead bodies of a wild cat ( Fish-eating cat) and a Jackal lying beside the road which crushed under the wheels of speedy trucks. He demanded to stop immediately the movement of vehicles through the road in a reckless speed by blowing horns.
Abdur Rahim, Chairman of Aronkhola union informed, the government allocated fund for Baboons, Monkeys and Deer at Madhupur Forest seems inadequate as a result, those innocent, hungry wild animals scuttle to human habitation by leaving the forest and are being hunted and dying.
Beat Officer of Lohuria Beat Abdul Jalil informed, there are nearly 10,000 Baboons and Monkeys at National Sadar Uddyan, Dokhla, Charalgani range under Tangail Forest division. The government supplies those animals Banana, Nut and Biscuit as token foods.
It is not being possible to supply those animals sufficient food because of the non-allocation of required fund in the budget. Moreover, those animals are being deprived of the foods that they received from the visitors due to the Corona crisis.
Uttam Kumar, Contractor responsible for supplying foods to the wild animals and Modhupur Forest informed, the government grants Taka 9,685 per month to supply for for Baboons and Monkeys of the forest while Taka 32,940 is allocated per month to feed deer of Lahuria Deer Breeding Centre.
Jamaml Hossain, Assitant Conservator of Modhupur Forest informed, regular foods for Baboons and monkeys of the forest are supplied according to the fund allocation.