Sundarban, the world’s largest mangrove forest, has become unsafe for many animals especially for tigers, deer and crocodiles due to rampant and indiscriminate animal poaching in the last few years. Various groups of people have long been engaged in hunting tigers, deer and crocodiles for smuggling skin to different countries. Sundarban east zone DFO Mihir Kumar said that one group is involved in poaching animals, another group in processing skins, teeth, bone and another group smuggling those to China, Vietnam, Hon Kong and Myanmar and some other countries in the world. The poachers from Sharankhola, Mongla and Bagerhat sadar are active and kill the wild animals by firing, feeding poison and trapping those by using rap. Some poachers in guise of fishermen enter the forest with a pass from the forest department and kill the wild animals, sources said. On September 23, coast guard members recovered four skins of crocodiles from the house of Latif Molla at North Kadamtala village in Sharankhola upazila but the coast guard members could not arrest Latif as he managed to flee. On February 16, this year, the coast guard members arrested Jamal Fakir, 45, of Bangla Bazar village along with three skins, four skulls and 32kg bones of Royal Bengal Tiger. Coast guard members also arrested 15 people along with deer skin and venison in the last three months. Reviewing the matter, the government gave an approval to form Wildlife Crime Control Unit to save the wildlife of the Sundarban in August. According to a survey report there are 440 tigers, 150-200 salt water crocodiles and 1.5 lakh deer in the Sundarban. The government had established a crocodile breeding centre in Koromjhol area of the East Sundarban for breeding of crocodiles in 2002 and there are 135 crocodiles there. Sharankhola thana sources said cases were filed with the thana recently against six people, including women, on charge of illegally hunting wild animals.