BAGERHAT: The intensified foot patrols, systematic searches and anti-poaching operations have helped improve the density of spotted deer in the eastern Sundarbans over the past 18 months, the forest department has observed.
In the latest such operation, a patrol team recovered roughly 1,200 feet of rope snares believed to have been laid to trap deer in the Kachikhali Wildlife Sanctuary.
The team, led by Sharankhola Range Officer and Assistant Conservator of Forests Md Shariful Islam, was patrolling from the Doorjar Khal area towards Bahir Sukhpara when officials spotted the snares.
During the operation, officials also came across four to five suspected poachers eating lunch under a sundari tree. The men fled into the forest on noticing the patrol team, abandoning their food and belongings. Officials recovered two sharp knives, a machete, a hand saw, five to six kilogrammes of polythene, an ice-filled polystyrene box, a pot of cooked rice and around 10 kilogrammes of uncooked rice, along with the snares.
Dilip Majumder, forest ranger-in-charge of the Kachikhali Wildlife Sanctuary, said the recovered snares were burnt on the instructions of senior forest officials.
Shariful said the operation had thwarted an attempt to hunt deer and that foot patrols in the Kachikhali area would be further strengthened.
Md Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, divisional forest officer of the Sundarbans East Forest Division, said his teams had stepped up foot patrols, carried out parallel-line searches and monitored suspected activity through video footage to prevent deer hunting.
Forest teams also regularly search animal trails and dense vegetation to locate and remove rope and wire snares.
"Over the past one and a half years, we have intensified patrolling and removed a large number of snares. We are seeing more deer during field visits," Rezaul Karim said.
According to the forest department, 241 cases were filed against 396 accused over the past year, while at least 474 special anti-crime operations were conducted across the Sundarbans. The department has also shared the names of 150 suspected forest criminals, including 78 suspected deer poachers, with intelligence agencies.
Deer hunting nonetheless remains a threat, with poachers continuing to lay concealed snares along animal trails.
Rezaul said the department had observed a noticeable rise in the density of spotted deer across several areas of the eastern Sundarbans over the past year and a half, with animals now being spotted closer to human settlements in some parts of the forest, something rarer in the past.
"Earlier, the number of deer was estimated at around 100,000 to 150,000. Now the density has increased considerably. We can see the difference in the field," he said.
The last official survey, conducted in 2022, put the Sundarbans' spotted deer population at around 140,000. No survey has been carried out since, and the department currently has no updated figure.
A fresh count has been proposed for 2027–28, but the DFO stressed this remains only a proposal, and the actual population cannot be confirmed until a formal survey is completed.
He said the greater presence of deer in the field, combined with snare removal and intensified anti-poaching operations, pointed to an improvement in the population's condition, though the true scale would only be known once a new scientific survey was carried out. - The Daily Star/ANN
