Although winter still lingers at the evergreen Jahangirnagar University (JU) campus, avian guests have left its water bodies earlier than usual, due to the human disturbances, say bird researchers. Two lakes of this university located in front of the JU administrative building and behind the Preetilata Hall are especially preferred by migratory birds, but the creatures are hardly to be seen at present. Only a few remain on the lakes in the botanical garden under the JU Wild Life Rescue Centre, while most have already left. Normally, the migratory birds come from the freezing northern parts of globe, to escape the severe weather and generally remain there till the middle of March.
Dr Kamrul Hasan, associate professor of the JU zoology department and a prominent ornithologist, said, “Visitors, especially on holidays, gather in large numbers beside the two main lakes. They also park their vehicles next to them, often causing traffic jam on the main street of the campus from the Chourongi point to the JU registrar building. Such incidents, which happen quite frequently, disturb the migratory birds. That’s why they left these two lakes rather early this year.”
Besides, he blamed lack of concern on the part of the university authorities, for poor maintenance and mismanagement of lakes, affecting the food chain of the migratory birds.
“Although the birds have left the university’s main two lakes, they are still roaming in the Wild Life Rescue Centre in the JU Botanical Garden area. This area is calm because of restrictions on the entry of the general people. Thus, a favourable environment for the migratory birds is preserved,” he added.
However, the university registrar’s office says, there is no shortage of measures to reduce public disturbance inside the campus.
According to an official, the university authorities have designated a place on the campus for the parking of vehicles, to reduce congestion and disturbance in the lake area. Moreover, they charge parking fee to restrict the number of visitors. But security officials said they were often unable to act when visitors introduced themselves as former students of the university.
Another prominent environmentalist and the chairman of JU zoology department, Prof. Dr Monwar Hossain Tuhin, said that the early departure could have been due to a sudden climate change. “The cold and foggy conditions around this university are suitable for the migratory birds. Only a few days back, the intensity of winter was relatively high. But, suddenly the severity of winter and the foggy conditions decreased in the campus area. For this reason, the number of migratory birds may have decreased in the two main lakes.”
When contacted, JU registrar Abu Bakr Siddique told The Independent that the main two lakes had an abundance of migratory birds when the weather was colder. “The weather has become warmer over the past two weeks. That may be the main cause for the reduction of birds on the campus. The university authorities had taken all initiatives, before the advent of winter, to conserve the guest birds.”
Asked about the disturbance caused by crowds, he said there was no lack of administrative measure to protect migratory birds, but conceded that holidays were especially noisy. “We are considering ways to minimise it.” According to the JU zoology department, a total of 198 species of birds have been found on the JU campus, of which, 139 are native species. Among them, about, 84 species remain within the campus area and breed there. The rest 69 species are foreign. Most of the birds coming to the campus belong to the duck family. A total of 10 species of foreign birds have come to this area since 1984. But, this year, only three species were sighted.