Sunda and mainland clouded leopards

[cheetah]

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[TheHyenid76]

Collection of information regarding the clouded leopard in Bangladesh from various literature.


The mainland clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) is one of the eight extant wild cats in Bangladesh.

From 'Wild Cats of the World' by Dr Mel Sunquist. Distribution and the cause of decline of the clouded leopard in Bangladesh. (Pg 282)

"Loss of forest cover and hunting for skins has also contributed to the decline of the clouded leopard in Bangladesh. The cat now occurs in small numbers in the undisturbed forests of Chittagong and Chittagong Hill Tracts. Skins are openly sold in the Chittagong market, where in 1983 a pelt brought U.S.$100. Khan believes that many of the skins sold in Chittagong represent animals caught in neighboring forests of Myanmar and India."

Description of the distribution of the clouded leopard in Bangladesh by Dr Monirul H. Khan. Photographic Guide To The Wildlife Of Bangladesh

"Vulnerable globally, Critically Endangered nationally. Rare. Occurs in SE and NE in mixed evergreen forests, and N in deciduous forests."

*This image is copyright of its original author

From 'A preliminary wildlife survey in Sangu-Matamuhuri Reserve Forest, Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh' LINK

"Apart from tigers, we have documented the presence of six other wild cat species within the SRF. We have found camera trap images and recently hunted skins of leopard (Panthera pardus), clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), marbled cat (Pardofelis marmorata), Asiatic golden cat (Catopuma temminckii) and leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis). Wild cat species are opportunistically hunted by locals primarily for subsistence."

[Table 1: A preliminary checklist of wildlife of Sangu Reserve Forest, an adjacent areas, observed by our parabiologists (Only species with photographic evidence were included in this checklist).]

*This image is copyright of its original author

This is a conversation between me and Shahriar Caesar Rahman (Founder of Creative Conservation Alliance) regarding the mammalian carnivora of the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Me: "Do the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh have viable breeding populations of leopards (clouded & common), bears (Sun & Asiatic), dholes and other small cats? What is being done to conserve them and do they have a future in such a overpopulated country like Bangladesh?"

Shahriar C. Rahman: "The term viable population is a bit complex and requires more rigorous scientific evidence. But in general, we do have populations of clouded leopard, Asiatic black bear, and sun bear in the CHTS. Clouded leopards and sun bears are found in forested and relatively pristine forest areas. Asiatic blacks are more common and can be found in degraded areas close to human settlements as well. Dholes are there too, but they used to be more common and are still found in forested areas. We also have leopards, and certainly, we have enough habitats for them in the CHTS, but for for some reason, they are rare compare to dholes, bears, and clouded leopards. We have a golden cat and a marbled cat in CHTS, too. We do have the potential to conserve these cats and large carnivores in the CHTS, especially in the Kassalong Reserve and Sangu-Matamuhuri areas. However, these forests are under severe threat, and no such actions have been taken to ensure the survival of these species yet."

*This image is copyright of its original author

It has been established that clouded leopards still persist in northeastern Bangladesh.

From 'A carnivore conservation initiative in north-eastern forest reserves of Bangladesh' LINK

"Bangladesh, one of the smallest Asian states, shelters 27 carnivore mammals—nearly half of the Indian Subcontinent Carnivora—in the mixed evergreen, trans-border forests of the northeastern region (IUCN Bangladesh 2015, Khan 2018). The reserves, the northern fringes of the Baramura-Atharamura-Longtharai Hills, are under formal protections encompassing two national parks, one wildlife sanctuary and two Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) to support many globally threatened carnivores such as Cuon alpinus, Neofelis nebulosa, Pardofelis marmorata, Prionailurus viverrinus, Helarctos malayanus, Ursus thibetanus, Arctictis binturong, etc. These forests also belong to the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot and are perishing fast. Encroachment, altercation, retaliatory killing and prey poaching are severe. Owing to research bias, systematic studies on the carnivores of north-eastern Bangladesh are nearly non-existent (Akash & Zakir 2020)."

[Clouded leopard Neofelis nebulosa Critically Endangered in Bangladesh Population in eastern Bangladesh No concerted study]

*This image is copyright of its original author

Key points of this post:

• Mainland clouded leopards still persist in the North and South east of Bangladesh
• No concerted study have been done on them
• There is no comprehensive book or paper concerning the mammalian fauna of Bangladesh
• Information regarding carnivores (excluding the tiger to an extent) are scattered
  

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