Bengal tigers, Asian elephants, Ganges river dolphins, langurs and hoolock gibbons, together with just a few different endangered and susceptible animal species, have been outstanding in Bangladesh’s wildlife conservation situation for the previous few many years.
Now, new animals have grasped the eye of some wildlife researchers and conservationists, as digicam 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 certainly one of them, which researchers lately present in digicam entice footages.
These carnivores happen within the some elements of South Asian and Southeast Asian nations, however have been quick shedding their habitat. IUCN declared the species susceptible globally in 2021.
“In 2023, I discovered one clouded leopard in a digicam entice [footage] whereas engaged on a [study about] the ecology and conservation of bears and dholes in japanese Bangladesh,” stated Muntasir Akash, a school member on the College of Dhaka’s zoology division.
He stated that though there isn’t any official document of the species in Bangladesh, clouded leopards have been sporadically noticed in varied elements of the nation since 2006.
Akash, who makes a speciality of learning carnivore species, has been amassing info on clouded leopard sightings in Bangladesh for the final 20 years. He stated that, normally, the specimens they recorded have been captured by native folks whereas amassing pure assets or by poachers caught by legislation enforcement authorities.
Based on 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 stated the Sangu-Matamuhari forest vary within the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in southeastern Bangladesh appears to be the final protected 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 legislation 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 document 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 totally different spots in Sheikh Jamal Inani Nationwide Park.
The examine additionally attributed anthropogenic components like unlawful encroachment of forest lands, extreme disturbance of forests for amassing timber and gas wooden, and wildlife poaching as the key threats diminishing the habitats of leopards.
Primarily based on the sporadic findings and different examine evaluation, Akash stated he believes that wild cats, together with the clouded leopard, are extremely more likely 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 usually are not simple to identify attributable to their nocturnal nature and habitat in dense hill forests. On the identical time, when the locals do spot them, they kill them as they usually fail to differentiate them from the opposite cats. They think about them much like leopards or one thing dangerous to people, stated Farid Ahsan, a former zoology professor on the College of Chittagong.
Each zoologists suppose the species’ sporadic sightings point out a superb signal of habitation within the CHT’s wild, they usually stated the federal government and different conservation businesses ought to spend money on analysis to find out the cat’s precise standing in order that official conservation methods could be introduced to put.
Citations:
Kabir, M. T., Ahsan, M. F. & Khatoon, A. (2017). Incidence 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. Okay., Trageser, S. & Ghose, A. (2021). Detecting the spots: A evaluate on leopard occurrences in Bangladesh. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.web/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 digicam 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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