Wild birds: To cook, or not to cook? That is the question | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Wednesday
May 14, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 2025
Wild birds: To cook, or not to cook? That is the question

Panorama

Enam Ul Haque
10 February, 2022, 11:55 am
Last modified: 10 February, 2022, 02:42 pm

Related News

  • Hundreds of birds burnt in Jhenaidah shop fire
  • 3 arrested with 697 slaughtered birds in Chattogram
  • 1,200 trapped birds rescued, freed in Bagerhat
  • Large influx of migratory birds enhances scenic charm of Ramrai Dighi in Thakurgaon
  • Experts warn of rising bird strike risks at Dhaka airport

Wild birds: To cook, or not to cook? That is the question

It is time to accept that the days of serving wildlife as food is over and if we want to continue seeing our birds, we must save them

Enam Ul Haque
10 February, 2022, 11:55 am
Last modified: 10 February, 2022, 02:42 pm
A flock of Whistling Ducks descend over a beel. Photo: Enam Ul Haque
A flock of Whistling Ducks descend over a beel. Photo: Enam Ul Haque

We were both saddened and elated by the news report of a mobile court slapping a small fine on an eatery named Taru Mia Restaurant for cooking wild-birds for its customers at Haripur in Jaintapur upazila. The Divisional Forest Officer responsible for the conservation of wildlife in Sylhet will reportedly take more legal actions against the restaurant in addition to the fine.   

It was not so painful to read the report but rather to see the accompanying photo of a dozen birds boiling in a large pot at Taru Mia Restaurant. It reminded us of the horrifying sights of dying ducks desperately trying to flee from humans at the haor basin. On our annual tours of Hakaluki haor for the bird census, we rescued many poisoned ducks from water in our futile attempts to save their feeble lives.  

We could not keep a single poisoned duck rescued from the Hakaluki haor alive. The bird-killers came at night to put out the poisoned food for ducks and collected the floating dead bodies, probably, before dawn. We got to see the ducks that did not eat poison sooner, only to die promptly and get collected by dawn. By the time we came to collect the gasping ducks from the water, they were ready to die on our lap.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

We saw several thousand poisoned ducks at Hakaluki haor for the first time in 2003. We collected a dozen gasping ducks and tried to save them by alkalization. A few of them did live for a few days before yielding to toxicity. But in the recent past the ducks we rescued lived no longer than a few hours. Perhaps the bird-killers have been improving their poisoning techniques. 

Enam Ul Haque. Illustration: TBS
Enam Ul Haque. Illustration: TBS

Although we had those close-up views of the wild birds slaughtered at Hakaluki haor we had no clear picture of what the bird-killers did with the dead birds. From word of mouth, we knew that they cut the throat of dead birds to make them Halal and sell them to restaurants and party centres. The photo of boiling birds in a pot of Taru Mia Restaurant came as the graphic narrative we needed to fill in the gaps.  

No wonder the news report moved us and many other people all over the country. Quite a few wild birds were ending their lives as table meat at places like Haripur in the north-eastern parts of Bangladesh. The haor basin at the north-east was where the birdlife of the country flourished for millennia. It continues to be a hot spot today despite continuous depredation. 

In winter, we counted half a million birds at Tanguar haor only two decades back and nearly as many at Pashua haor three decades ago. There must have been millions of birds at the haor basin a mere half century ago. Shooting and trapping wild birds was effortless at the time of abundance. That explained how the practice of eating wild-birds started and perpetuated.  

As the population of wildlife plummeted, it became harder to shoot or trap birds. That's when someone invented a novel method called poisoning. Poisons are cheap and easy to use. You spread some poisoned grains at the water's edge when nobody is watching, and bag the dead birds a few hours later. Your only regret is that you wouldn't be able to bag many more birds dying after you fled.

Poisoned ducks are collected from Hakaluki haor. Photo: Enam Ul Haque
Poisoned ducks are collected from Hakaluki haor. Photo: Enam Ul Haque

Eating poisoned birds is neither Halal nor safe. But by slitting the birds' throat and keeping the poisoning a secret the bird-killers could easily sell the dead birds to dodgy buyers such as Taru Mia Restaurant and party centres. Nobody knew how much harm the poisoned meat was doing to cleaners, cooks and diners. Since the damage was not immediate or dramatic, the bird-killers' trade continued unabated.    

In the Sylhet division once, many road-side restaurants openly advertised the availability of wild-bird curry; when and other eateries did that in whispers. During marriage ceremonies, many hosts discreetly boasted of menus that included roasted wild duck even as the birds were vanishing from the haor basin. 

Wild-bird slaughter went unabated at the haor basin for ages; our law enforcing agencies took little action. Most people in the administration did not even know the law of the land that gave the wild-birds every protection against killing, culling and harassment. A prominent political leader once publicly supported the killing of wild-birds in the name of saving the crops at the haor basin. 

Poisoned ducks taking their last desperate breath. Photo: Enam Ul Haque
Poisoned ducks taking their last desperate breath. Photo: Enam Ul Haque

Lately, in the Sylhet division, the voices against any revolting cuisine involving wildlife had been growing louder until finally, the public and the administration joined hands to punish a puny perpetrator with a small fine. It was about time something was done to set an example, however small. It was heart-warming for us and many other bird-lovers of the land.

We are happy to applaud every step taken against the slaughter of wildlife, big or small. We do not wish to see our last wild-birds of the haor basin being cooked and eaten. And we are truly down to the last birds! Only a month ago we counted the water-birds of Tanguar haor and Baikka beel of Haila haor and found a single Bali-Hash (Cotton Pygmy-goose) at the first and two at the second site. 

People must accept that the days are over when one could see or serve wildlife as food. We are seeing the very last of them in this overcrowded land. We must save them so that we may continue to see them. Even at Haripur we want to look up and watch the birds fly between beels and not look down to the kitchen of Taru Mia Restaurant and see the birds being cooked.

Analysis / Features / Top News

Wild birds / Birds / cooking

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Infograph: TBS
    Govt plans to align official land price with market rates
  • Illustration: TBS
    Gratuity, accidental disability facility planned for Universal Pension 
  • Photos: Collected
    BB resolves exchange rate dispute with IMF, expects next tranche in June

MOST VIEWED

  • Representational image. File Photo: UNB
    Army updates contact numbers for people seeking help across Dhaka, surrounding districts
  • IMF agrees to release $1.3b in June for Bangladesh as disagreement over exchange rate flexibility resolved
    IMF agrees to release $1.3b in June for Bangladesh as disagreement over exchange rate flexibility resolved
  • Logo of bkash. Photo: Collected
    bKash posts Tk132cr profit in three months
  • Infograph: TBS
    More woes for businesses as govt plans almost doubling minimum tax
  • File photo of a new NBR office in Agargaon, Dhaka. Photo: UNB
    NBR dissolved, 2 new divisions created amid commotion of customs and tax officials
  • Collage shows [from left] shows the woman rushing to her house with the cat after, getting into the lift and the cat that was beaten. Collage: TBS
    Animal abuse outrages citizens: Grameenphone condemns incident allegedly involving employee

Related News

  • Hundreds of birds burnt in Jhenaidah shop fire
  • 3 arrested with 697 slaughtered birds in Chattogram
  • 1,200 trapped birds rescued, freed in Bagerhat
  • Large influx of migratory birds enhances scenic charm of Ramrai Dighi in Thakurgaon
  • Experts warn of rising bird strike risks at Dhaka airport

Features

Sketch: TBS

‘National University is now focusing on technical and language education’

10h | Pursuit
Illustration: TBS

How to crack the code to get into multinational companies

12h | Pursuit
More than 100 trucks of pineapples are sold from Madhupur every day, each carrying 3,000 to 10,000 pineapples. Photo: TBS

The bitter aftertaste of Madhupur's sweet pineapples

12h | Panorama
Stryker was released three months ago, with an exclusive deal with Foodpanda. Photo: Courtesy

Steve Long’s journey from German YouTuber to Bangladeshi entrepreneur

1d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

US-Saudi defense deal worth $142 billion

US-Saudi defense deal worth $142 billion

9h | TBS World
Trump receives royal purple carpet welcome in Saudi Arabia

Trump receives royal purple carpet welcome in Saudi Arabia

10h | TBS World
The two-day Denim Expo 2025 concluded after discussing various possibilities.

The two-day Denim Expo 2025 concluded after discussing various possibilities.

10h | TBS Today
What are the advisory committee, NBR officials and the government saying about Ordinance on revenue sector?

What are the advisory committee, NBR officials and the government saying about Ordinance on revenue sector?

10h | TBS Today
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net