Poisoned mustard seeds allegedly sown to protect crops killed dozens of pigeons in Satkhira’s Tala, prompting outrage, demands for compensation, and assurances of legal action by forest officials this week.
At least 80 pigeons and doves died after eating poisoned mustard seeds in Satkhira’s (a district of Khulna Division, southwestern Bangladesh) Tala upazila, residents and forest officials said.
The birds began dying on Saturday afternoon, December 20, in Harishchandrakathi village of Tala. On Sunday, Khulna Forest Department’s Wildlife and Biodiversity Conservation Officer Tanmoy Acharya visited the site.
Locals said Abdul Bari, a demonstrator at Tala Women’s College, sowed mustard seeds in a field at Harishchandrakathi beel on December 19. To protect the crop from birds, he allegedly mixed poison with the seeds before sowing.
On December 20, large numbers of pigeons and doves descended on the field. Soon after, the birds began dying one by one. So far, the carcasses of 80 pigeons and one dove have been recovered.
Villagers Jinnat Kha and Haider Ali said many of their pigeons had died. They questioned whether birds could understand that seeds had been poisoned and demanded compensation as well as punishment for Abdul Bari.
Officer Tanmoy Acharya told journalists that the incident was extremely unfortunate and that legal action would be taken.
Abdul Bari has gone into hiding since the incident and could not be reached for comment.
A similar incident recently occurred in the Padmashakhra area of Satkhira, where more than 100 pigeons died and 180 boxes of bees were also lost after poisoning, locals said.
