Cyclone Remal: Carcasses of 44 more animals recovered from Sundarbans

The Forest Department has recovered carcasses of another 44 wild animals, including 42 deer and two boars, from the Sundarbans in Bagerhat.

With this, as many as 100 wild animals have been found dead since Cyclone Remal hit the coast.

These include 96 deer and four boars, Khulna Region Forest Conservator Mihir Kumar Doe said on Thursday night.

The dead deer have been buried at the Katka sanctuary, while 17 living deer were rescued and released, according to the Forest Department.

The Forest Department has released a total of 18 live deer and one live python in the forest after rescuing.

Authorities have rescued wild animals and their dead bodies from Katka, Kachikhali, Karamjal, Pokkhir Char, Dimer Char, Shelar Char Narikelbaria and various other areas in eastern Sundarbans Sharankhola Range, according to Mihir.

“Due to Cyclone Remal, a storm surge caused all the river channels in the Sundarbans to overflow and flood vast parts of the forest. The tidal surge was above 10 feet,” Mihir added.

The forest officials believe the deer may have been washed away by the storm surge when it reached the Sundarbans and were unable to swim back to shore. They were fearing the deaths of many wild animals of the forest near the coast from the very beginning.

The cyclone had caused heavy damage to the station offices, camps, and watchtowers of the Sundarbans East and Sundarbans West divisions of the forest department, Mihir said.

The wireless towers set up to facilitate communication between Forest Department officials were also damaged. Saltwater has encroached on the freshwater ponds and lakes.

“Considering the destroyed forest infrastructure, our initial assessment puts the total damage at over Tk 62.7 million,” Mihir said.