2 Purple swamphens rescued in Bogra

Two Beguni Kalems (Purple swamphens) have been rescued from their captors in Bogra's Shibganj upazila. Purple swamphen – scientific name Porphyrio porphyrio – has several subspecies spread across the world. Their population in Bangladesh is considered to be very small, mostly concentrated in the Haor areas of the northeast. The pair of Beguni Kalems was being exhibited by a group of the nomadic Bede community in Buriganj area of the upazila over the last few days. The birds were caught from a haor in Sylhet. On information, members of a Bogra-based environmentalist group, Team for Energy and Environmental Research (TEER), visited the area on September 28 and offered to buy the pair of birds from the Bede people. As the Bede people were demanding a very high price from the activists, the latter informed the matter to Divisional Forest Officer Mollah Mizanur Rahman. Officials of the Social Forestry Department's Kalai Range later visited the area and rescued the birds on Sunday. TEER General Secretary Arafat Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune that the rescued birds had been in their custody since the rescue. Steps had been taken to send the rescued birds to National Botanical Garden at Mirpur, Dhaka, he added.