The government in Bangladesh has recognized the collaboration between the wildlife crime control force and volunteers by awarding one of the pioneering volunteers with a national prize.Risking their own lives, the volunteers collaborate with the Forest Department by sharing information about poachers and smugglers; often, they help arrest criminals.The Forest Department has launched a volunteer registration process, which, however, fails to attract prominent volunteers.
A handful of animal lovers, mostly representing the youth community, spread across Bangladesh, have become crucial arsenals of the Forest Department’s wildlife crime control efforts.
Despite not being assigned by the state, like the responsibilities a crime control force shoulders, the animal lovers help the Forest Department trace stressed wildlife in traps, cages or enclosures of poachers and smugglers.
Primarily, they share intel information about any potential wildlife crime. Often, they join the wildlife inspectors of the department, act as undercover buyers, reach the crime scene, and help arrest the criminals. All things they do are under life threats — voluntarily.
The Forest Department’s Wildlife Crime Control Unit (WCCU), established in 2012, conducted more than 3,000 raids against wildlife criminals between July 2012 and March 2026. Almost all raids were planned with volunteers’ tip-offs.
