From Hunter to Wildlife Protector, Farewell to Sitesh Ranjan Deb

Sitesh Ranjan Deb, one of Bangladesh's most respected pioneers of community-led wildlife conservation, has passed away. Once a hunter, he dedicated the latter part of his life to rescuing, treating, rehabilitating, and protecting injured, sick, and endangered wild animals.

He breathed his last at 9:05 a.m. on Tuesday, July 14, while undergoing treatment at Sreemangal Poly Clinic Hospital in Moulvibazar. He was 78.

For several decades, Deb devoted himself entirely to the rescue, treatment, rehabilitation, and eventual release of injured and endangered wildlife back into their natural habitats. The Bangladesh Wildlife Service Foundation, which he established in Rupsapur, Sreemangal, has become one of the country's best-known privately managed wildlife rehabilitation centres. Locals still affectionately refer to it as "Sitesh Babu's Zoo."

Born in 1948 in Noagaon village of Sreemangal, Sitesh Ranjan Deb was the son of Shreesh Chandra Deb, a well-known hunter and nature enthusiast. Accompanying his father into the forests from an early age, he developed a deep interest in wildlife. Like his father, he hunted in his youth, but later abandoned that life and dedicated himself entirely to wildlife conservation.

On January 14, 1991, he was critically injured in a violent bear attack at Patrakhola Tea Estate in Kamalganj. Although he survived after extensive medical treatment, he carried permanent facial scars for the rest of his life. The life-changing incident strengthened his resolve to give up hunting and devote himself to protecting wildlife.

In 2009, he founded the Bangladesh Wildlife Service Foundation in Rupsapur. Over the past five decades, more than 2,000 wild animals have been rescued under his leadership and released back into nature through the Forest Department. He also played a vital role in treating and rehabilitating hundreds of injured and sick animals.

Today, the foundation provides care for more than 50 rare and endangered species, including bears, hoolock gibbons, pangolins, fishing cats, spotted deer, pythons, hornbills, and vultures. Even before his passing, the organisation's activities had been managed by his two sons, Swapan Deb Sajal and Sanjit Deb.

A man who once hunted wildlife ultimately became one of its greatest guardians. Through the institution he built and the conservation legacy he leaves behind, Sitesh Ranjan Deb will be remembered for generations to come.

EN/SA