- The Indian leopard was when common throughout most the forests in the Bangladesh landscape, however is now seriously threatened in the nation.
- The huge feline’s population has quickly decreased in the nation due to environment fragmentation and deterioration, victim crisis and wildlife trafficking.
- Experts recommend taking immediate preservation efforts for the ignored types and bringing it into nationwide preservation focus in Bangladesh.
The Indian leopard (Panthera pardus fusca), inyourarea understood as chitah bagh in Bangladesh, is mainly discovered in the northern and northwestern area of the nation, where they typically fall victim to disputes with humanbeings.
Most leopards have constantly been discovered in the northern districts close to Bangladesh’s border with India — Panchagarh, Thakurgaon, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat and Nilphamari. About 10 leopards were beaten to death in these districts in the last 14 years, according to media reports.
Once leopards getin human settlements in search of food, extremely coupleof leopards handle to return to the wild, as most of those are eliminated by the residents. In the mostcurrent occurrence, on Feb. 2, 2024, a leopard was beaten to death in Panchagarh when it gotin the town in search of food.
“Since 2007-08, leopards haveactually been discovered in the northern and northwestern area of Bangladesh. There was no report of leopards assaulting humanbeings, however every time, regional individuals eliminated the huge felines,” Muntasir Akash, a wildlife biologist and assistant teacher at the University of Dhaka, informed Mongabay.
There is a comparitively exceptional leopard population in Indian West Bengal’s surrounding Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and Alipurduar districts close to Bangladesh, where they stroll the tea gardens, existingtogether with individuals.
“Our Teesta-Brahmaputra basins are topographically comparable to the locations of West Bengal where leopards live. It is typically stated that leopards come from India in search of food. But there is no researchstudy on whether they come from India or there is a consistent population in the northwestern area of Bangladesh,” Akash stated. “There is a space of researchstudy on leopards.”
According to the IUCN Bangladesh red list, the leopard is seriously threatened in Bangladesh as its population is no longer feasible now.
Once, the leopard was common throughout the nation in most environments, otherthan a significant part of the Sundarbans. Until the end of the 19th century, the huge feline strolled the forests of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), Madhupur Tract, Sylhet and Cox’s Bazar. Now, the types is totally missing from the Sundarbans and the nation’s sal forests, while it is periodically found in the tea gardens and evergreen forests of Sylhet, Chattogram and the CHT, and Cox’s Bazar.
The level of incident and location of tenancy of this types in the nation haveactually been minimized by 90 percent.
Other factors contributing to the fast decrease in leopard population are environment fragmentation and deterioration triggered by the boost in human population and