Bangladesh Leopard Discovery Renews Hopes for Species Survival

Bangladeshi conservationists reported on a rare leopard cub captured by villagers in the southeast of the country.  The say it renewed hopes for the survival of the critically endangered species.

The Myanmar News reports:

“Professor Anwarul Islam, chief executive of Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh, said on July 23 the three-month-old clouded leopard cub had been released back into the wild.

It had been caged by villagers in the remote Chittagong Hill Tracts region, which borders Myanmar and Mizoram state in India, for the past three weeks, he said. “It was tremendous news because many conserva-tionists thought the animal was extinct from Bangladesh due to habitat loss.”

He said in most cases where a rare species is captured, villagers sell the animal, but in this case conservationists had convinced them to release it back into the wild. The species is timid and nocturnal and little is known about it, he added. The clouded leopard is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.”  See full article.