The residents of Sonatola village of Sharankhola upazila in Bagerhat are passing their days in fear as footprints of a tiger were spotted in their locality, adjacent to the mangrove forest Sundarbans.
They spotted tiger footprints for the first time in two years.
The villagers saw footprints at different spots on Thursday morning, which led to them panicking.
Afterwards, the Forest Department made an announcement to alert the villagers.
Md Shahidul Islam Sacchu, vice president of Community Control Group (CPG) engaged in forest protection, said a tiger from the Sundarbans crossed the Bhola river and entered Sonatala village early Thursday.
The tiger roamed around in different places including the pond bank of the houses of Abu Bhaddar, Aslam Bhaddar, Ah Malek, Harun Hawladar of the village. In the morning the villagers spotted tiger footprints in those places and panicked, he said.
Later, they informed the Forest Department.
Abdur Rahim, a forest guard of the Bhola patrol outpost of the department, said that he went to the spot and saw the footprints of a tiger after receiving information about the beast entering the village.
It is believed that the tiger returned to the forest at night, he added.
Sharankhola Range Officer (ACF) Md Samsul Arefin said due to the Bhola River being filled, wild animals of the Sundarbans can easily enter the locality. The Sundarbans tiger may have lost its way and entered the locality.
To prevent the tiger from coming to the locality again, the Forest Department as well as forest protection members are patrolling the village.
Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of East Sundarbans Division Muhammad Belayet Hossain said that the forest guards have been instructed to make the public aware of the tiger.
Earlier, on the night of January 9, 2021, a tiger from the Sundarbans entered the village of South Rajapur in Sharankhola upazila adjacent to the Sundarbans, and there were numerous footprints of the tiger in the village's crop fields, fish enclosures and river pastures in an area of about one and a half kilometres of that village.
On October 7, 2020, villagers spotted the footprints of two tigers in West Razapur village along the Sundarbans and those returned to the forest without causing any harm to people and animals.
