28 spotted dear perished in Cyclone SIDR

Dhaka, Nov 21 (UNI) At least 28 spotted deer perished in the deadly cyclone 'SIDR' that hit Bangladesh last Thursday, a senior forest official said.

The local people, however, apprehended that the casualty figure of the precious wild animals of the Sundarbans may be several hundred.

Senior Forest official SM Shahidullah said the Sundarbans is an abode of about 1,00,000 to 1, 50,000 deer, 440 Royal Bengal Tigers and over 1,00,000 monkeys and rare species of birds.

The cyclone also wreaked havoc on trees like 'Sundari', 'Goran', 'Geoa' and 'Pashur.' Mr Shahidullah said the amount of damage caused to the forest and infrastructure was Tk 1017 crore, of which damage to forest amounted to about Tk 1000 crore.

UNI