Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Safari Park gets new project director
Mollah Rezaul Karim, conservator of forests (wildlife and nature conservation, Dhaka zone), has been given the responsibility of project director at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Safari Park in Gazipur, in addition to his own duties, reports BSS.
Mollah has been made the project director of the Approach Road Widening and Other Infrastructure Development Project (2nd Amendment) of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Safari Park, according to a notification issued Wednesday by the environment, forest and climate change ministry.
Mollah Rezaul Karim replaced Md Zahidul Kabir, former project director of the safari park.
Earlier, on 31 January, the government withdrew two officials of the safari park with a view to conducting a fair probe into the deaths of 11 zebras and a tiger at the park located in Sreepur, Gazipur.
The officer-in-charge of the safari park, assistant forest conservator Tabibur Rahman, and veterinary officer Hatem Sajjad Md Zulkarnain were withdrawn and attached to the Forest Department.
Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, assistant conservator of forests, Faridpur; and Mohammad Mustafizur Rahman, veterinary surgeon, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Safari Park, Dulahajra, Cox’s Bazar; were given new responsibilities in the Sreepur safari park.
On 26 January, 2022, the ministry formed a five-member committee to probe the deaths of nine zebras at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Safari Park in Gazipur. Later two more zebras died.
The committee members were: additional secretary of the ministry Sanjay Kumar Bhowmik (convener), deputy secretary Mohammad Abdul Wadud Chowdhury (member-secretary), professor and head of the Zoology department at Jahangirnagar University Mohammad Monirul Hasan Khan, conservator of forest wildlife and nature conservation circle, Dhaka, and former chief veterinary officer of Central Veterinary Hospital ABM Shahidullah.
The probe body has been asked to submit its report to the ministry within 10 working days by identifying the real cause behind the deaths of the zebras and with necessary recommendations to prevent recurrence of such incidents.