Wild animals find shelter with Sohag
The mother jungle cat couldn’t return as its home had been destroyed. Hearing the cries of the kitten since it lost its mother, a local college student stepped in.
A jungle cat family was living on the roof of a balcony at house in Sheruya Battala of Sherpur upazila in Bogura. The mother jungle cat had given birth to a kitten. In the meantime, the owner of the house demolished the roof to renovate the house. With the roof gone, the jungle cat's home was destroyed too. The mother jungle cat had been out at the time, perhaps in search of food. The 15 to 20-day-old kitten became homeless.
The mother jungle cat couldn’t return as its home had been destroyed. Hearing the cries of the kitten since it lost its mother, a local college student stepped in. The student informed Sohag Roy, president of ‘Poribesh Protirakkha Songstha’, a platform working on environment and wildlife conservation about the matter. Sohag Roy is a third-year student of economics at Bogura’s Government Shah Sultan College and a member of the Team for Energy and Environmental Research (TEER).
Sohag Roy rescued the kitten and brought it home on 3 February. He is from the village Hosnabad of Sherpur upazila.
Sohag Roy said the kitten wouldn't stop crying for its mother. It is being fed cow's milk from a baby's bottle. He said he talked to the Wildlife Crime Control Unit of the forest department. The kitten is now fine. It will be sent the wildlife care centre in Rajshahi after few days. Later it will be released in the forest.
Wildlife expert and professor of Jahangirnagar University’s Zoology department, Monirul Khan, told Prothom Alo that this was a jungle cat and its scientific name is Felis chaus. Other than in the cities, jungle cat is seen in villages where there is more shrubbery. They are helpful for agriculture, eating insects that harmful to crops. Their main food are chickens and chicks, pigeons and such.
Meanwhile, on the day after the jungle kitten was rescued, veterinary surgeon of Sherpur, Md Raihan phoned Sohag Roy saying that a college official has brought him a civet. It was hurt after falling into a trap. The civet was handed over to Sohag after first aid.
The civet had sneaked in the pigeon box at a house in Ulipur village of Sherpur upazila. The master of the house had the animal caught in a trap. It was injured.
Veterinary surgeon Raihan said the adult civet weighs nearly 7 kg. It sustained injuries on its legs after getting caught in the trap. A person named Hasan Amirul Momen found the animal injured and brought it to him. After providing necessary treatment, he gave the civet to Sohag for care. He maintained communication with Sohag over the civet’s care. It has healed now.
The civet has been released in the forest (of social afforestation) on Wednesday afternoon in the the presence of Sherpur’s forest department officials.
This report appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Hasanul Banna