Bengal tigers, Asian elephants, Ganges river dolphins, langurs and hoolock gibbons, together with a number of different endangered and weak animal species, have been outstanding in Bangladesh’s wildlife conservation state of affairs for the previous few a long time.
Now, new animals have grasped the eye of some wildlife researchers and conservationists, as digital camera traps and wildlife census reveal the presence of different species that haven’t been thought-about current within the nation for a very long time. The clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) is considered one of them, which researchers lately present in digital camera entice footages.
These carnivores happen within the some elements of South Asian and Southeast Asian international locations, however have been quick dropping their habitat. IUCN declared the species weak globally in 2021.
“In 2023, I discovered one clouded leopard in a digital camera entice [footage] whereas engaged on a [study about] the ecology and conservation of bears and dholes in japanese Bangladesh,” mentioned Muntasir Akash, a school member on the College of Dhaka’s zoology division.
He mentioned that though there isn’t any official report of the species in Bangladesh, clouded leopards have been sporadically noticed in numerous elements of the nation since 2006.
Akash, who focuses on learning carnivore species, has been gathering info on clouded leopard sightings in Bangladesh for the final 20 years. He mentioned that, usually, the specimens they recorded have been captured by native individuals whereas gathering pure assets or by poachers caught by regulation enforcement authorities.
In keeping with his depend, one clouded leopard was present in Jamalpur district in 2006, three in Rangamati district in 2009, two in Bandarban district in 2014 and 2015, one in Sangu-Matamuhari forests in 2018, two within the Kaptai Nationwide Park in 2021, and one within the Barkal space of Rangamati in 2022.
The clouded leopard is among the many 17 IUCN-declared critically endangered mammals in Bangladesh. Akash mentioned the Sangu-Matamuhari forest vary within the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in southeastern Bangladesh appears to be the final secure habitat for the clouded leopard inhabitants right here.
The one noticed specimen of clouded leopard in Bangladesh is now dwelling at Dulahazara Safari Park in Cox’s Bazar district. The cat was captured from Rangamati in 2023 with the assistance of locals and regulation enforcers when it was seen roaming close by, Rafiqul Islam Chowdhury, an official Chittagong Forest Circle, instructed Mongabay.
The clouded leopard is a singular wild cat that’s thought-about to bridge the hole between huge and small cats. It has huge enamel however a petite physique. The cat is thought to prey on smaller animals like monkeys and rodents within the wild and has by no means been recorded attacking people.
Wild cats deserve higher in Bangladesh
Previous research have researched and made observations of the conservation efforts on the 2 huge cats in Bangladesh — the Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) and the Indian leopard (Panthera pardus fusca).
There’s an estimate of the tiger inhabitants within the nation because of the official conservation efforts, however there isn’t any official report of leopards and different wild cats as these have but to return below conservation effort or any intensive analysis.
A 2017 examine recorded Indian leopards within the hill forests of Cox’s Bazar. Throughout their survey between July 2012 and March 2014, the researchers made one direct observance of a leopard and recorded the pugmarks in three completely different spots in Sheikh Jamal Inani Nationwide Park.
The examine additionally attributed anthropogenic elements like unlawful encroachment of forest lands, extreme disturbance of forests for gathering timber and gasoline wooden, and wildlife poaching as the foremost threats diminishing the habitats of leopards.
Based mostly on the sporadic findings and different examine evaluation, Akash mentioned he believes that wild cats, together with the clouded leopard, are extremely prone to exist within the forests of CHT, as the realm has undisturbed forests that Bangladesh shares with the Tripura and Mizoram states of neighboring India.
Clouded leopards should not straightforward to identify because of their nocturnal nature and habitat in dense hill forests. On the similar time, when the locals do spot them, they kill them as they typically fail to tell apart them from the opposite cats. They contemplate them just like leopards or one thing dangerous to people, mentioned Farid Ahsan, a former zoology professor on the College of Chittagong.
Each zoologists assume the species’ sporadic sightings point out a superb signal of habitation within the CHT’s wild, and so they mentioned the federal government and different conservation companies ought to put money into analysis to find out the cat’s precise standing in order that official conservation methods could be introduced to position.
Citations:
Kabir, M. T., Ahsan, M. F. & Khatoon, A. (2017). Prevalence and conservation of the Indian Leopard (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae: Panthera pardus) in Cox’s Bazar District of Bangladesh. Journal of Threatened Taxa, Vol. 9 No. 6. doi:10.11609/jott.1898.9.6.10320-10324
Zakir, T., Akash, M., Rahman, S., Mila, F. T. Z. Ok., Trageser, S. & Ghose, A. (2021). Detecting the spots: A assessment on leopard occurrences in Bangladesh. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.internet/publication/353776637_Detecting_the_spots_A_review_on_leopard_occurrences_in_Bangladesh
This article by Khadijatul Kobra was first revealed by Mongabay.com on 5 December 2024. Lead Picture: The clouded leopard that researchers caught on a digital camera entice whereas learning the current standing, ecology and conservation of bears and dholes in japanese Bangladesh, funded by the World Financial institution-funded SUFAL Small Innovation Grant. Picture courtesy of Muntasir Akash.
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