Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) on Monday rescued 43 animals of 16 species and also seized several animal hides from Chandramohol Ecopark at Ranajitpur of Bagerhat Sadar. Besides, a mobile court fined the Ecopark manager Md Ali Chakladar Tk 50,000 for illegally keeping wildlife. Read: Woman hacked to death by husband in Bagerhat Rab Khulna-6 Sadar Company Commander Al Asad Mahfuzul Islam said, tipped off, Rab members along with Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation Division rescued the animals conducting a drive in the Ecopark. During the drive, two deer, a crocodile, a langur, five monkeys, a peacock, two ostriches, five Australian pigeons, two tortoises, seven herons and two Machhmutal birds were rescued. Read: 'Festival of poaching' endangers bird life in Bagerhat beel Besides, Rab seized six deer hides and six horns, a bear hide, a kangaroo hide and a whale skeleton. All these animals and hides were being maintained illegally. And the Ecopark authority could not show any valid documents in this regard, the official said.

The government has fixed the prices of raw cowhide ahead of the Eid-ul-Azha at Tk 40-45 per square foot in the capital and Tk 33-37 outside of it. Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi announced the prices after a virtual meeting held at the Ministry on Thursday. Read:Zilhajj moon sighted; Eid-ul-Azha on July 21 Besides, the minister said, the prices of goatskins have been fixed at Tk 15-17 per square foot across the country while that of she-goat at Tk 12-14 against the previous year’s prices of Tk 13-15 and Tk 10-12 respectively. “Last year, we saw a very good export trade, and we’ve to move on ensuring the fare prices of rawhide. We’ve given the approval to export rawhide which is not good for us. This year, we’ve fixed the rawhide prices after holding a meeting with all stakeholders,” he said. Read:Digital Haat and more Qurbani Cow online shops targeting Eid-ul-Azha in Bangladesh Munshi urged all concerned to apply salt on animal hides soon after their sacrifices.

As in every year, the workers of Lalbagh rawhide market in the capital are in the midst of their busiest period following Eid-ul-Azha, the second largest religious festival of Muslims that results in a large number of sacrificial animal hides.