Cyclone Remal: Bodies of 26 deer found in Sundarbans

The Forest Department recovered the bodies of 26 deer from the east division of the Sundarbans in Bagerhat on Monday and Tuesday following Cyclone Remal.

The department was also able to rescue eight injured deer.

The bodies of 24 deer washed up on Tuesday morning in the Jamtala area of the Katka sanctuary in the Sarankhola Range of the East Sundarbans, Mihir Kumar Do, conservator of forests in the Khulna region told reporters.

“We believe the deer may have been washed away by the tidal surge when it reached the Sundarbans and were unable to swim back to shore.”

“Due to Cyclone Remal, a tidal surge caused all the river channels in the Sundarbans to overflow and flood vast parts of the forest. The tidal surge was above 10 feet. Given all that water, I feared the death of many wild animals near the coast of the forest. We have found the bodies of 26 deer in two days. The forest department is concerned.”

The dead deer were buried in Katka. The forest department said the live deer had been released back into the forest.

Cyclone Remal had led to tidal surges that inundated large sections of the Sundarbans from Sunday. The Water Development Board had said at the time that the main rivers in Bagerhat had overflowed their danger points.