Forest officials rescued three critically endangered spectacled langurs from a Chattogram house, exposing an alleged wildlife trafficking network and renewed concerns over illegal captivity of rare species.
The Forest Department’s Wildlife and Nature Conservation Division rescued three critically endangered spectacled langurs from from a house in Chattogram on Sunday. The officials said that these endangered spectacled langurs were kept for trafficking.
The animals were recovered during a raid on Sunday night at a residential building on High Level Road under Khulshi police station, according to the Chattogram Wildlife and Nature Conservation Division.
Mohammad Lutfor Parvez, an officer of the division’s Sadar Range, said the team acted on a tip-off that some wild animals had been kept in the house for trafficking.
“When we went there around 7:00 pm yesterday, we first faced resistance,” he said. “Later, with police assistance, we entered the house and rescued three spectacled langurs on Monday”
He said one of the rescued langurs was an adult and the other two were babies.
The animals are now in the custody of the Forest Department and are being cared for, he said, adding that all three are healthy and the next steps will be decided in consultation with senior officials.
Parvez said the house was believed to belong to an alleged wildlife trafficker named Jaglu. However, he was not at home during the operation.
He said the woman found in the house could not be arrested at first because no female officer was with the team. Before a female officer arrived, the woman fled the house.
The range officer said drives were under way to arrest Jaglu, who is suspected of being involved in the trafficking of the langurs.
The spectacled langur, also known as Phayre’s langur or Phayre’s leaf monkey, is one of the country’s critically endangered species. It is also known locally as the dusky langur or black monkey because of its black face, with white rings around the eyes that make it look as if it is wearing spectacles.
Belonging to the Cercopithecidae family, the species bears the scientific name Trachypithecus phayrei. It is the smallest of the country’s three langur species and lives in the mixed evergreen forests of the Sylhet and Chattogram regions.
Under the Wildlife Conservation and Security Act 2026, keeping such endangered wild animals in captivity is a punishable offence carrying a maximum sentence of three years in prison or a fine of 300,000 taka, or both.
