Number of elephants decreasing fast

By Sheikh Arif Bulbon, The New Nation
February 25, 2007
The number of elephants is alarmingly decreasing in forests of Cox's Bazar and Teknaf, where once one-third of elephant population of the country was found, due to undue pressure of deforestation and increasing of human activities in forest areas.
According to the last census of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), there are only 30 to 35 elephants in forests of Teknaf and Southern Cox's Bazar regions.
The Teknaf Game Reserve is one of the five protected areas where the Forest Department has initiated the co-management approach situated at Damdamia in the south of Cox's Bazar. The Game Reserve provides a vital sanctuary for a wide variety of wildlife, especially elephants. It was established in 1983 under the Wildlife Act of 1973. It was previously Teknaf Reserve Forest. It includes an area formerly referred to as the Thainkhali Game Reserve (7,770 hectres). Currently it covers an area of 11,615 hectres, making it the third largest protected areas after Sunderbans and Pablakhali Wildlife Sanctuaries. Day to day management activities by the Nishorgo Support Programme (NSP), a protected area management programme, are carried out from two ranges namely Teknaf and Whykong.
Raquibul Amin of IUCN said, "During 1980s the Reserve contained about half of the mammals and one-third (101) of the elephant population of the country. Many wildlife have already been on the verge of extinction and elephants are in high risk of extinction not only in Bangladesh as well as in Asia due to the loss of forest cover, loss of corridor and the forest fragmentation."

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