Rare birds seized from city shops
Saturday, March 5, 2011 at 12:43 
Captured Alexandrine parakeets. Photo: Pratiksha
The Wildlife Crime Control Unit of Forest Department in a drive on Thursday recovered 320 birds of rare species from the capital's Katabon and the outskirts Tongi.
The team led by Tapan Kumar Dey, conservator of forests at the Wildlife and Nature Conservation Circle in Dhaka, recovered 15 hill myna, 25 alexander parakeet, 50 rose-ringed parakeet, five white-throated kingfisher, 10 jungle myna, 15 lesser whistling teal and 200 lovebirds, said a press release yesterday.
All the birds except mynas were released in Modhupur forest on that day while the mynas were sent to safari park in Cox's Bazar on Thursday to be released immediately into the wild.
The officials filed a case in this connection under Wildlife Conservation Act.
Tapan Kumar said the unit will expand its activities across the country to protect wildlife.
Formulation of a project to save wildlife in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan is at the final stage, he added.
It will help protecting wildlife habitats and addressing conflict between human and wildlife.