A fishing cat of vulnerable species and a monkey were crushed to death under the wheels of motor vehicles in Lawacherra forest under Kamalganj upazila of Moulvibazar yesterday morning.

The vehicles that killed the animals could not be identified, forest department officials said.

Kamalganj-Sreemangal road and a rail route pass through Lawacherra National Park and there were several incidents of wildlife getting killed by vehicles and trains using the routes.

Earlier on April 16 night, a Eurasian wild boar and its baby were killed as a high-speed motorbike ran over them at the parking entrance point in Lawacherra forest, forest department sources said.

"Wild animals come out from the jungle at night in search of food. At night the vehicles run too fast and it sometimes causes death of wildlife," said Tabibur Rahman, assistant conservator of Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation Department in Moulvibazar.

The fishing cat that was killed yesterday is a medium-sized one. Fishing cats live mostly in the vicinity of wetlands, along rivers, streams, oxbow lakes and swamps. It is a native to South and Southeast Asia, he added.

Md Nurul Mohmain Milton, general secretary of Environmental Journalists Forum, said he raised the issue of the safety of wildlife in Lawacherra forest area in several meetings.

Mihir Kumar Doe, divisional forest officer (wildlife), told this correspondent since 2016, fishing cat is listed as 'vulnerable' on the IUCN Red List. Fishing cat population is threatened due to destruction of their habitat including wetlands over the last decade.