JU lakes do not attract migratory birds anymore

The number of migratory birds arriving at the four lakes of Jahangirnagar University has dropped to a mere 25 to 30 of only two species this year, stated alarmed environmentalists and birdwatchers recently.

Five years ago their numbers used to reach around 2,000 comprising some 20 to 25 species, they said.

Since 1986, the birds were usually spotted arriving late November at the start of the winter season from the world's cold northern regions like Siberia, Mongolia, Xinxian and other parts of the Himalayas.

Their arrival also ushered in scores of birdwatchers and tourists from around the country.

Observers say the university administration, led by the former vice chancellor Prof Shariff Enamul Kabir, for the last three years, had leased out the lakes for fish farming and adjoining lands for crop cultivation and indiscriminately chopped down trees.

This had caused the destruction of the natural habitat of the birds and tilted the ecological balance of the vegetation for the worse, resulting in the decline in migratory bird numbers, they said.

Moreover, the rise in the frequency of human presence and erection of establishments near the water bodies unnerved the birds, they added.

Frequent use of fertilisers and insecticides in the lakes and lands by the lease holders might have led to the drastic dip in bird numbers, said Associate Prof Monowar Hossain of zoology department.

Lime administered in the water before the release of fish fries wiped out water hyacinths and other aquatic plants, which the birds use to hide in and breed and under the roots of which the fish normally tend to hide in, he said.

The university authorities should form a committee, comprising zoology researchers, to find the reasons behind the drastic decline, said Associate Prof Zamal Uddin Runu of environment science department.

Vice Chancellor Prof Anwar Hossain said they were taking steps so that the university's lakes and land are no longer leased out and this would hopefully bring about an abundance of food supplies and habitat for the birds.

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