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Detecting the spots: A review on leopard occurrences in Bangladesh

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 original contribution

period of these discoveries (2015–5-2017). We also
extend our gratitude to the Department of Wildlife
Conservation for their support of the Urban Fishing
Cat Conservation Project. Finally, we would like to
thank the individuals who alerted us to these sight-
ings.
References
Balagalla S., Wikramanayake E. D. & Padmalal U.
K. G. K. 2007. The ecology and behaviour of
fishing cats in urban and suburban areas of Sri
Lanka – Progress report: November 2006-–Sep-
tember 2007.
Government of Sri Lanka. 2015. Ecological Status,
Wetland Management Strategy, Technical Re-
port 02. Sri Lanka.
Government of Sri Lanka. 2016. Metro Colombo
Wetland Management Strategy. Sri Lanka.
Kittle A. M. & Watson A. C. 2018. Small wildcats
of Sri Lanka – some recent records. Cat News
68, 9–12.
Malla G., Ray P. & Sivakumar K. 2018. Feeding
behaviour of fishing cat in the Godavaru man-
groves, India. Cat News 67, 30–31.
Ministry of Environment Sri Lanka. 2012. The Na-
tional Red List 2012 of Sri Lanka; Conservation
Status of the Fauna and Flora. Ministry of Envi-
ronment, Sri Lanka.
Mukherjee S., Appel A., Duckworth J. W.,
Sanderson J., Dahal S., Willcox D. H. A.,
… & Rahman H. 2016. Prionailurus viver-
rinus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened
Species 2016: e.T18150A50662615.http://
dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.
T18150A50662615.en. Downloaded on 15
November 2020.
Sunquist M. & Sunquist F. 2002. Fishing Cat. In
Wild Cats of the World. University of Chicago
Press, Chicago and London, pp. 241–245.
Thudugala A. N. & Ranawana K. B. 2015. Conserva-
tion and monitoring of fishing cats (Prionailurus
viverrinus) in the hill country of Sri Lanka. Scisc-
itator 2, 22–24.
1
Small Cat Advocacy and Research, 381/14,
Spring Hills Estate, Bowalawatta, Kandy 20024,
Sri Lanka
*
<anya@scar.lk>

MUNTASIR AKASH1*, SCOTT TRAGESER2, TANIA ZAKIR1, SHAHRIAR CAESAR RAHMAN2, Indian leopard. India has an estimated leopard
FATEMA-TUZ-ZOHORA KHALEQUE MILA3 AND ANIMESH GHOSE4 population of 12,000-13,500 individuals (Bhat-

Detecting the spots: A review

tacharya 2015, Jhala et al. 2020), however,
sampling inadequacies to count leopards are

on leopard occurrences in
mentioned by Jhala et al. (2020) for West Ben-
gal and North-east India. Nonetheless being

Bangladesh
one of the two most widespread leopard sub-
species, P. p. fusca has lost 70-72 percent of
20 its entire historic range (Jacobson et al. 2016).
The Indian leopard Panthera pardus fusca is Critically Endangered in Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, the Indian leopard is Critically
Presence of the country’s second largest cat is based on speculations and its popula- Endangered (IUCN Bangladesh 2015). Except
tion is often considered to be unviable. No specific studies on Bangladesh’s leopard for the Sundarbans mangrove, it once roamed
population have been conducted. Thus, scant empirical data for this range country throughout the country (Kabir et al. 2010,
exists. Here, we provide a review on leopard occurrences in the country between IUCN Bangladesh 2015). There are extensive
2008 and 2020. We searched media reports and peer-reviewed publications, and descriptions on the hunting of leopards dating
compiled verifiable and geo-spatially extrapolatable records. Over the past 13 years, back to the 1950s and from places like Dhaka,
we documented 21 confirmed incidents; nine of which were outcomes of human- the capital of Bangladesh (Kabir et al. 2010).
leopard conflicts. In north-western Bangladesh, seven leopards strayed from North By the 1980s, the extirpation of leopards in
Bengal, India, a conflict hotspot for the species, into the country. Northern and north- Bangladesh westward of 90° east longitude,
eastern Bangladesh had one incident each. These regions have forests bordering and their steady decline and patchy presence
the Indian States of Meghalaya and Tripura, which are considered as possible extant in north-east and south-east hilly forests was
leopard range. We noted five seizure records describing confiscation of three skins noted (Gittins & Akonda 1982, Khan 1986,
and four live specimens. We found seven encounters in the wild, all from south- Green 1987). Since then, the Indian leopard
eastern Bangladesh: five from the Chattogram Hill Tracts CHT and two from Cox’s has become extremely rare in Bangladesh al-
Bazar-Teknaf Peninsula. We also noted rapid degradation in the peninsular forests though included in CITES Appendix I and pro-
due to the Rohingya refugee crisis. The CHT forests, considered as extant range and tected under the Wildlife (Conservation and
from where the only leopard camera trap image in the country exists, are the best Security) Act, 2012 (IUCN Bangladesh 2015).
hope for the leopards in Bangladesh. Comprehensive surveys are recommended for The leopard is the only other big cat in the
north-eastern transborder forests, extensions of the Tripura Hills, and the CHT region country besides the Bengal tiger Panthera
in order to better understand and facilitate leopard conservation in the country. We tig-ris tigris. For decades, Bangladesh is said
also suggest a systematic approach to protect wildlife beyond protected areas con- to have no viable leopard population (Khan
sidering transient leopard conflicts in the north-western region. 1986, Green 1987). It is the only leopard r­ ange
country with no exclusive work conducted on
Bangladesh is one of the range countries sidered to be Critically Endangered (Stein et ­leopards. To date, the presence of leopards in
of the Indian leopard. Although the leopard al. 2020). Bangladesh is based solely on educated spe-
holds the widest distribution of all felids Across the range, P. p. fusca is Near Threat- culations (IUCN Bangladesh 2015, Khan 2018).
(Jacobson et al. 2016), it is globally vulne- ened (Menon 2014). India, Nepal, and Bhutan There is only a single peer-reviewed sighting
rable with four of its nine subspecies con- hold nearly the entire known population of the record (Kabir et al. 2017). Other recent evi-

CATnews 73 Spring 2021

 review on leopard occurrences in Bangladesh

dence has come through studies with broad-

er scopes (Chakma 2015, CCA 2015). Paucity
of empirical data on leopard in Bangladesh is
a subject to the existing conservation bias in
the country (Akash & Zakir 2020). For example,
since 1971, where tiger has been a subject of
45 peer-reviewed publications in Bangladesh
including two national conservation action
plans, 14 out of 28 extant mammalian carni-
vores of the country are yet to appear in any
peer-reviewed study (Akash & Zakir 2020).
Leopards are reported to survive in forests
where natural prey has been displaced by live-
stock (Kabir et al. 2014, Shehzad et al. 2015)
and in close proximity to urban ­landscapes
(Bhatia et al. 2013, Atherya et al. 2015, Kumb-
hojkar et al. 2020). Despite severe anthro-
pogenic pressures, leopards also survive in
the parks of Armenia and Turkey (Avgan et
al. 2016, Jacobson et al. 2016). In contrast,
it is not known exactly why or how Bangla-
desh has lost its viable leopard population or
whether the species is truly lost. There has
not been any targeted survey effort for leop-
ards in the country and neither is there any
work on the population of the forest ungulates
in the eastern regions.
Through this review, we aimed to collect re-
cent occurrence records of the Indian leop-
21
ard in Bangladesh. We followed a structured
methodology, extracted verifiable and geo-
spatially identifiable events, observed the geo-
graphic features of the localities, ­compared
the features to the neighbouring regions, and
commented on the events.

Methods
Collecting occurrence data
We searched media reports, grey literature,
peer-reviewed scientific studies, and books.
To source media reports, we selected on-
line databases of three Bangla newspapers
(Bangladesh Pratidin, Prothom Alo, and Kaler-
kantho) and three English newspapers (Daily
Star, Daily Sun and Daily Observer). We al-
so included three web-based news portals
(www.bdnews24.com; www.jagonews24.
com; www.banglatribune.com). These sour-
ces were chosen because they are the high-
est circulated and the most read ones in
Bangladesh in the respective language (DFE
2018). Readership was used as a trait of se-
lection based on Rust (2015) and Athreya et
al. (2015). We extracted grey literature (e.g.
project report) and peer-reviewed scientific
works (e.g. scientific papers, book/book chap-
ters, conservation action plans, and doctoral
theses) from Google Scholar and the IUCN
Fig. 1. a. Range of the Indian leopard. b. Occurrence records of leopard in Bangladesh
between 2008–2020. Range map is adopted from Stein et al. (2020). Site Codes denote the
observational briefs given in the SOM T1.
SSC Cat Specialist Group library. We also re-
viewed five wildlife guidebooks of Bangla-
desh: Ahmed et al. (2009), Khan (2008, 2018)
and Khan (2010, 2015). In addition, we re-
viewed Stein et al. (2020), and IUCN Bangla-
desh assessment reports (2000, 2015).
Consideration of timeline
Our search for grey literature and peer-re-
viewed scientific publications included works
published between January 1972 and Septem-
ber 2020. Our time trajectory to search print
media reports was limited to January 2008.
This was because of the timeline when news-
papers in Bangladesh had begun operating on-
line. The availability and comprehensiveness
of their indexed databases were not definitive
before 2008. After initial sampling of the me-
dia reports, the likelihood of the existence of
more leopard occurrence events prior to 2008
appeared evident to us, though due to inacces-
sibility of older data, the extent of this review
ranged from January 2008 to September 2020.
We deemed this timeline (13 years) significant
as it is nearly half of three leopard generations
(21 years; Balme et al. 2013, Jacobson et al.
2016). Literature search, data collection and
categorisation were carried out between June
2020 and September 2020.
Search protocol and consideration cri-
teria
To construct our search string, we followed
the guidelines of Pullin & Stewart (2006).

CATnews 73 Spring 2021

 Akash et al

According to Jacobson et al. (2016) and
Lozano et al. (2019), we modified our pre-
set keywords for the search string. In every
attempt, we included ‘scientific or common
name of the species’ i.e. “leopard” or “com-
mon leopard” or “Indian leopard” or “Panthe-
ra pardus” or “Panthera pardus fusca” AND
‘country name’ i.e. “Bangladesh”. These com-
binations were applied in each of the search
engines we considered for data extraction. To
collate Bangla media reports, keyword com-
binations of ‘common name of the species’
and ‘country name’ were also used in Bangla
in pertinent databases.
To validate the initially extracted results, we
used two criteria. We counted a result as
­valid, only if (i) the anecdote had been pro-
vided with a verifiable image i.e. leopard
(dead or alive), leopard pugmark, human ca-
sualty, or attack on livestock by leopard pro-
vided with a report, and (ii) the location of the
anecdote was geo-spatially assignable with-
in the geopolitical boundary of Bangladesh.
We aimed to attain a verified pattern of oc-
currences in the country.
Categorisation of data
We classified the refined data under three
broad themes: Type, place, and time of
occurrence. Each of these themes was
further divided into categories and sub-cate-
gories. Regarding the type of occurrence, we
grouped data into three categories: (i) human-
leopard conflict, (ii) encounter in the wild, and
(iii) illegal trade of leopard in Bangladesh. Hu-
man-leopard conflict refers to events of an-
thropogenic retaliation induced by leopards
being strayed into settlements and/or by
­leopard attacks on humans or livestock. We
observed the number of casualties i.e., death
or injury of humans, livestock, and leopards.
Any evidence of leopard observed in a wildlife
survey or as a chance event was considered
as an encounter in the wild. Confiscation re-
ports on leopard trafficking and trade in leop-
ard body parts (skin, claw, bone, etc.) were
categorised as instances of illegal trade in
­leopard in Bangladesh. We adopted defini-
tions for these categorisations from Balme et
al. (2014) and Jacobson et al. (2016).
We registered year and month for each event.
We noted the type of place where the event
occurred (forest, urban/peri-urban, or rural/
agricultural; adopted from Acharya et al.
2016). The closest straight-line distance from
the place of occurrence to the international
border was calculated. We followed a similar
approach, which was adopted from Jacobson
et al. (2016), to measure distance between
each occurrence place and the closest forest
reserve. The in-between topographic traits
and habitat connectivity were also observed
following the Google Earth imagery and perti-
nent district statistics compiled by BBS (2011)
and RGCC (2011).
Preparation of maps
ArcGIS 10.4 (ESRI 2016) using geo-datum
WGS 1984 and GADM.org was followed to

22

Fig. 2. Year-wise trend of observation records of the Indian leop-
ard in Bangladesh and nearby forested areas: a. North-western
Bangladesh and b. Northern Bangladesh. Range map is adopted
from Stein et al. (2020). Site Codes denote the observational briefs
given in the SOM T 1. NP, national park; WS, wildlife sanctuary; WF,
wildlife forest; TG, tea garden; TE, tea estate.
Fig. 3. Year-wise trend of observation records of the Indian
­leo-pard in Bangladesh and nearby forested areas: a. North-east-
ern Bangladesh, b. Chattogram Hill Tracts and c. Cox’s Bazar-
Teknaf Peninsula. Range map is adopted from Stein et al. (2020).
Site Codes denote the observational briefs given in the SOM T1.
RF, reserve forest; WS, wildlife sanctuary.

CATnews 73 Spring 2021


plot the country maps. We created the global
range of P. p. fusca from Stein et al. (2020).
To obtain forest cover data of Bangladesh, we
used the Global Forest Change 2000-2019 da-
ta version 1.7 (Hansen et al. 2013). ISFR (2017)
was consulted to refer to the status of forests
for the states of West Bengal, Meghalaya,
Assam, Tripura, and Mizoram. We adopted
the classification scheme for the regions of
Bangladesh from Khan (2018).
Overview of records
We compiled 21 confirmed records of leop-
ard over the last 13 years (Fig. 1; Supporting
Online Material SOM Table T1). Nine events
were linked to human-leopard conflict, all oc-
curred in winter. A total of 50 persons were
injured while attacking leopards in retalia-
tion; however, we found no instances of hu-
man deaths or livestock depredation caused
by leopard attacks (Table T1; Supporting On-
line Material Plate S1). Six leopards were
killed, each in a separate event; all reported
as adults in the media (SOM S1 Figs 1–7).
There were only two instances where leop-
ards had escaped (SOM T1). None of these in-
cidents were influenced by any reported prior
conflict activity caused by these leopards. All
human injuries occurred during the pursuing
and killing of the leopards after entering hu-
man dominated landscape.
Between 2008 and 2020, seven leopard re-
ports from the forests of Bangladesh were
noted (Table T1). During this period, we found
five seizure reports on illicit trade of leop-
ard and leopard body parts from the coun-
try. These confiscation drives were led by the
Wildlife Crime Control Unit, Bangladesh For-
est Department and featured in the media.
Of the 21 records, we collated 11 from me-
dia reports (all conflict and seizure incidents),
Fig. 4. The Indian leopard in Chattogram Hill Tracts: a) only camera trap image of the species in Bangladesh, obtained from the
Sangu-Matamuhuri Reserve Forest. Image is taken from CCA (2015), b) another individual was sighted on 14 March 2021 near an
indigenous village located in teh Sangu-Matamuhuri Reserve Forest (Photo by parabiologists of Creative Conservation Alliance).
CATnews 73 Spring 2021
review on leopard occurrences in Bangladesh
eight from three publications: Chakma (2015),
CCA (2015), Kabir et al. (2017) (all were obser-
vations in the wild). One observation, a leopard
attempt on domestic cattle, was documented
by Scott Trageser and Animesh Ghose (Plate
S1 Fig. 9). One report on the seizure of leop-
ard skin was provided by Fatema-Tuz-Zohora
Khaleque Mila.
Region-wise account of leopards in the
country
North-western Bangladesh
Of the nine human-leopard conflict incidents,
seven were from north-western Bangladesh
(three in 2009, two in 2011, one in 2012 and
one in 2018; SOM T1; Figs. 1, 2a). The region
is characterised by the Barind Tract and the
Himalayan Piedmont Plain (Nishat et al. 2002).
Two major rivers (the Teesta and the Brahma-
putra) flow through the north-eastern mar-
gin of this dry landscape which form a grassy
floodplain mosaic in the eastern corner of this
region. Territories adjacent to the border are
characterised by mosaics of tea gardens and
other agrarian practices, almost completely
devoid of forest cover. Remaining patches are
small, isolated, managed under the scheme of
social forestry and remnant of deciduous for-
ests - which was once a continuous forest belt
from central Bangladesh to Darjeeling, India
during the 19th century (Nishat et al. 2002, Ka-
bir et al. 2010).
The 2012 and the 2018 incident occurred in
the same district (site 10, 18; Fig. 2a; SOM
S1 Figs 6–7). The 2011 incidents followed a
similar pattern (SOM S1 Figs. 4–5). Only five
days after a leopard was killed by a mob, an-
other individual from the same locality was
reported by a news outlet for mauling five
people in self-defence, however, this leopard
could escape (site 8, 9; Fig. 2a; SOM S1). Two
a b
of the 2009 events were with 80 km the fur-
thest away from the known extant leopard
range (site 1, 3; Fig. 2a; SOM S1 Figs 2–3).
This distance, however, was far less than the
furthest known natal dispersal record of the
species of 200 km (Jacobson et al. 2016).
When compared to the topography of neigh-
bouring Indian regions, we observed seve-
ral interesting aspects of leopard habitats.
According to ISFR (2017), adjoining districts
of West Bengal, collectively known as North
Bengal (Naha et al. 2018), have stands of
dense forest patches, connected through open
forests and tea gardens (Figs. 1, 2a). There are
approximately 283 tea gardens (Giri 2019) and
many touch the international border. The tea
garden-open forest mosaic is immediately be-
low the extant range of leopard according to
Stein et al. (2020). North Bengal is thought to
have 4,000 leopards according to the media
report (Giri 2019). Jhala et al. (2020), the on-
ly systematic study on leopard population in
the region, estimated 83 leopards (Standard
Error range 66–100) based on camera traps
deployed in three protected areas (Gorumara,
Jaldapara and Buxa).
Human-leopard conflict is intense in North
Bengal as reported by Kshettry et al. (2017),
Naha et al. (2018), Giri (2019), and Das (2020).
23
As many as 420 attacks on humans (in 2011–
2016) and 857 livestock predation events (in
2015–2018) by leopards were registered from
the area (Naha et al. 2018, 2020). The pre-
dicted heat map provided by Naha et al. (2018,
2020) shows high-intensity conflict zones bor-
dering Bangladesh.
It appeared to us that the leopards of north-
western Bangladesh were transient individu-
als. Khan (1986) and Green (1987) concluded
that leopards are extinct in Bangladesh from
the west of 90° east longitude. We are scep-

tical about these anecdotes because of the
timeline and pattern of the events we com-
piled, the situation in North Bengal we
observed, and as yet no systematic surveys
were conducted in the region.
Northern deciduous forests
We found one conflict incident in northern
Bangladesh (in 2016; site 14; Fig. 2b; SOM S1
Fig. 8). The incident was 15 km south from two
reserve forests RF of Bangladesh: Lauchapra
RF and Gazni RF (Fig. 2b), which are adjacent
to the South Garo Hills, India. On the Bangla-
desh side, these northern forests are decidu-
ous, lying on low, flat hills of the Himalayan
Piedmont Plains (Nishat et al. 2002), rimmed
by agricultural landscapes and home to trans-
boundary elephants (Motaleb et al. 2016). A
clouded leopard Neofelis nebulosa was also
recorded in this region (Chakma 2009). Khan
(2004) mentioned a depredation event of a
­leopard on cattle nearby the Lauchapra RF in
2000 (Fig. 2b). Except for elephants, northern
borderline forests have not been studied for
any other faunal species.
The bordering Indian state, Meghalaya, hav-
ing more than 70% forest cover (ISRF 2017), is
regarded as possible extant range of the spe-
24 cies (Stein et al. 2020). Presence of leopard is
mentioned by Lyngdoh et al. (2019); however,
there is no state-wide census.
North-eastern semi-evergreen forests
From past anecdotes of Gittins & Akonda
(1982), Khan (1986), and Green (1987) to the
recent field guides of Khan (2015) and Khan
(2018), leopards are described to be present
in the north-eastern forest patches that border
the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. All of
these reserve forests are semi-evergreen with
undulating hills (with maximum elevation of
350 m), interspersed by a mosaic of tea gar-
dens (Nishat et al. 2002, IUCN Bangladesh
2015).
In contrast to these anecdotal descriptions,
we found only one leopard record (site 15; Ta-
ble S1; Fig. 3a, Plate S1 fig. 9). A failed de-
predation attempt on a domestic cow was
noted by Scott Trageser and Animesh Ghose
from the Tarap Hill Reserve Forest. Based on
the pattern of wounds, scale and size of the
lacerations, we excluded dhole Cuon alpinus
or any other canid. Subsequently, due to ab-
sence of tiger in the region, the incident was
reasoned as a leopard attack. However, re-
cent camera-trapping attempts of Zakir et al.
(2020) and Rahman et al. (2021) did not record
leopard presence. We found no valid report
Akash et al.
of leopard from Tripura, however, the Bara-
mura-Atharamura-Longtharai-Unakoti Hills
have dense forests which could serve as habi-
tat (ISFR 2017). The southern forests of Tripu-
ra are considered as possible extant range of
­leopard (Stein et al. 2020).
Although north-eastern Bangladesh rims for-
est patches of Meghalaya and leopard pre-
sence is suspected there (Khan 2015), we
found no recent empirical evidence. Accord-
ing to Ahmed (1998), a leopard strayed into
the area which was captured, beaten, and lat-
er rescued and raised in a zoo. However, the
report did not provide any photo, hence, stood
unverifiable. A similar incident was reported
in 2009 which involved a melanistic Asia-
tic golden cat Catopuma temminckii (only in-
stance of melanistic morph of the species in
Bangladesh), initially misidentified as a ‘black
leopard’ (Choudhury 2013). After a long hia-
tus since the 1998 and the 2009 incidents, two
unverifiable claims of spotted cats were re-
ported: one from the northern border of north-
eastern Bangladesh (Daily Prothom Alo 2019)
and one from a heavily populated city rich in
old tea garden patches devoid of any forest
connectivity (Daily Financial Express 2018).
Chattogram Hill Tracts
The hilly, rugged, forested swaths of the Chat-
togram Hill Tracts CHT are likely the only place
where leopards still roam as residents (IUCN
Bangladesh 2015, Chakma 2015, CCA 2015).
The area is also included as the extant range
of the species (Stein et al. 2020). The 2010
survey resulted in verified observations for le-
opards in all three major reserves of the area
(Chakma 2015). The Kasalong RF is adjacent
to the west of the Dampa Tiger Reserve, Mizo-
ram, India. The Rainkhyong RF lies in central-
east corner of CHT. The Sangu-Matamuhuri
RF is in the extreme south-east corner of CHT
bordering Myanmar (sites 4–7). The San-
gu-Matamuhuri RF is the only place where
a ­leopard was camera trapped in the coun-
try (CCA 2015; site 13, SOM T1; Figs 3b, 4a).
Immediately after completing this systematic
review, we traced down another i­dentifiable
event from the Sangu-Matamuhuri RF (site 13;
Fig. 4b). On 14 March 14 2021, a leopard was
cornered by domestic dogs near an indigenous
village; however, escaped unscathed (sourced
from parabiologists deployed there by Crea-
tive Conservation Alliance).
Neighbouring forests of Mizoram are classi-
fied as open forests by ISFR (2017). According
to Devi & Hmingthangpuii (2011), 13 leopards
were observed in a 1996 survey in the Dam-
pa Tiger Reserve. Similarly, the species is said
to be present in adjoining forests of Myanmar
(Beffasti & Galanti 2011). Camera trap cov-
erage area of Jhala et al. (2020) included the
Dampa Tiger Reserve, however, did not yield
any empirical data of leopard presence.
The easternmost limit of P. p. fusca range is
bounded by the Irrawaddy River with isolated
populations in the Rakhine Yoma Hills and
Alaungdaw-Kathapa-Mahamyaing forest
complex (Jacobson et al. 2016). It is present
in the Chin Hills region of Myanmar (Jacobson
et al. 2016), which shares international border
with the Sangu-Matamuhuri RF.
Cox’s Bazaar-Teknaf Peninsula
Several works mentioned Dipterocarpus dom-
inated peninsular forests as leopard posi-
tive (Fig. 3c; Green 1987, Das & Alam 2001,
Khan 2018). The only exclusive peer-reviewed
work on the species in Bangladesh came from
these habitats. Kabir et al. (2017) made some
spectacular observations including a direct
sighting (site 11, 12; Fig. 3c). The peninsula,
known to host elephants (Motaleb et al. 2016),
also overlaps with regions of possible extant
leopard range (Stein et al. 2020). A ­ ccording
to the country profiles provided by Jacobson
et al. (2016), a leopard had been killed in the
peninsula around 2012–2013. However, we
could not locate any media report to confirm
this.
The forests of the peninsula are under great
threat due to the recent refugee crisis (Has-
san et al. 2018). According to data of www.
globalforestwatch.org, the peninsula had lost
92.2 km2 of tree cover in the last 20 years.
Based on our observation of the Global Forest
Change 2000-2019 data (Hansen et al. 2013),
these forests are clearly the most threatened
ones in Bangladesh, being at risk of complete
isolation by losing all habitat corridors to the
for-ests of Chattogram Hill Tracts and Myan-
mar (Fig. 3c).
Leopard trafficking in Bangladesh
We collected five seizure reports of leop-
ards from Bangladesh, four reported within
the last four years (two in 2017, one in 2018
and 2019; Table T1). Two sub-adult African le-
opards P. p. pardus were confiscated ­while
being t­rafficked in 2018 (site 19; Fig. 1; SOM
S1 Fig. 12). A seizure report of two leopard
cubs (unidentified subspecies; site 16; Fig.
1; SOM S1 Fig. 10) surfaced earlier in 2017
from a district harbouring an ­ international
land port. Fatema-Tuz-Zohora Khaleque (pers.
comm., October 20, 2020) mentioned about
CATnews 73 Spring 2021

the ­seizure of a leopard skin from Dhaka in
2013 (site 21; sourced from Wildlife Crime
Control Unit, Bangladesh Forest Department
archive). Two more skins were seized in 2017
and 2019 (site 17, 20; SOM S1 Figs 11, 13).
The 2019 seizure came from a curio shop in
the capital along with 232 different animal
trophies.
We consider this trafficking data important
for Bangladesh and the neighbouring state of
India – a long suspected wildlife trafficking
route (WCS 2018, Chowdhury 2020, TRAFFIC
2020). For example, approximately 262 leop-
ard skins were confiscated from West Bengal
in less than a single year (Talwar & Aziz 1996).
16 skins were reported by news outlets from
West Bengal between 2001 and 2010 (Raza et
al. 2012). We did not find any trade data from
Tripura, Assam, or Mizoram which is in accor-
dance with Raza et al. (2012), although illegal
trafficking was suspected in these states. Up-
dated work on the leopard trade data in West
Bengal was also absent; however, our search
showed several recent seizure reports (e.g.
Sinha 2019, Roy 2019).
This appraisal gives a verified pattern of
­leopard occurrences in Bangladesh. It indi-
cates a paucity of scientific data despite the
species intermittent appearance in different
parts of the country. It also indicates an ab-
sence of verified data on leopard population
in the north-eastern Indian states of Tripura,
Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Assam. Our work
highlights rampant degradation of forested
leopard habitat in the Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf Pen-
insula, suggesting the area is likely and very
rapidly becoming unsuitable for large mam-
mals.
We recommend thorough systematic surveys in
north-eastern transborder forests and the Chat-
togram Hill Tracts to improve our knowledge on
the current status of leopards. We also sug-
gest improved conflict mitigation practices
including an approach to protect wildlife be-
yond protected areas for transient leopard
conflicts in the north-western region.
The Chattogram Hill Tracts are perhaps the
best hope for Bangladesh against losing its
leopards completely. The Government of
Bangladesh is considering a feasibility study
to reintroduce tigers into the Chattogram Hill
Tracts (Haque 2020). This region should also
be a priority for initiating a systematic survey
for leopard. Through this study, we want to
bring the neglected, yet magnificent, and ex-
tremely adaptable leopard into national con-
servation focus to secure its future existence
in Bangladesh.
CATnews 73 Spring 2021
review on leopard occurrences in Bangladesh
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Supporting Onine Material SOM Table T1 and
Plate S1 is available at www.catsg.org.
1
Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka,
Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
*
<akashmuntasir10@gmail.com>
2
Creative Conservation Alliance, Dhaka 1216,
Bangladesh
3
Bangladesh Forest Department, Dhaka 1207,
Bangladesh
4
Institut de recherche sur les forêts, Université
du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Rouyn-
Noranda, QC J9X 5E4, Canada

JIGME TENZIN1*, PHUB DHENDUP1, KARMA CHOKI1, TSHERING DORJI1, TASHI WANGDI1, DAGO turn of 21st century (Dinerstein et al. 2007).
DROJI1, SANGAY DORJI1, MANOJ BOMZAN1, KUENLEY TENZIN2 AND PHUNTSHO THINLEY3 Therefore, it is important to monitor tiger po-

Increase in tiger number in

pulations to gauge the success of the recove-
ry of the global tiger population (GTIS 2011).

Sarpang Forest Division in

The Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan has re-
cently been recognised as a tiger source

south-central Bhutan
country (Tempa et al. 2019). So far, three na-
tionwide tiger surveys have been conducted
in Bhutan. The first survey in 1989 (Dorji &
A recent camera trap survey of tigers Panthera tigris in Sarpang Forest Division, locat- Santiapillai 1989) and the second survey from
ed in south-central Bhutan, revealed an increase in tiger number by four individuals. 1996 to 1998 (McDougal & Tshering 1998)
27
Previously only one individual has been recorded. This finding affirms the functional- used both sign surveys and interviews of lo-
ity of Bhutan’s biological corridors and depicts a promising future for tigers in Bhutan. cals. The latest survey conducted from 2014
to 2015 used camera traps and estimated 103
The tiger is a globally Endangered felid since ley et al. 2018), tiger number has plummeted tigers based on the identification of 68 adult
1969 (Goodrich et al. 2015). Although ecolo- from approximately 100,000 individuals in tigers (Thinley et al. 2015).
gically important as an apex predator (Thin- the early 20th century to less than 4,000 at the Sarpang Forest Division SFD (covering
933.73 km²) encompasses Biological Corridor
3 that connects Phibsoo Wildlife Sanctuary,
Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park and
Royal Manas National Park (Fig.1). The divi-
sion manages the State Reserved Forest cov-
ering 10 of 12 sub-districts within Sarpang
District (Tenzin & Wangyal 2019). It is home
to six felid species (Tenzin et al. 2019).
Tiger numbers in SFD have increased by
four individuals, based on the results of the
recent rapid biodiversity survey conducted
from November 2019 to February 2020. Five
individuals were identified from 48 tiger im-
ages. Contrastingly, only one individual has
been identified in the previous surveys, and
the same lone individual was captured during
the latest nationwide survey and the oppor-
tunistic survey conducted from 2017 to 2018.
This increase in tiger number is attributed
to intact landscapes connectivity with other
protected areas (Tenzin 2020, Thinley et al.
Fig. 1. The recently revised protected area map of Bhutan showing the area encom- 2020) and the implementation of SMART pa-
passed by Sarpang Forest Division (red rectangle) and its adjacent protected areas. trolling and the Zero Poaching project ­funded

CATnews 73 Spring 2021

Akash M., Trageser S., Zakir T., Tahman S. C., Mila F.-T.-Z. K., Ghose A. 2021. Detecting the spots: A review on leopard occurrences
in Bangladesh. Cat News 73, 20–27. Supporting Online Material.
SOM T1. Occurrence records of the Indian Leopard Panthera pardus fusca in Bangladesh between 2008 and 2020. Site code corresponds to the
number provided on Figs. 1-3 and SOM Plate P1.
Time of Place of Encounter Closest straight- Nature of Incident
Encounter line
distance Source
Year Month Region Site Type Habitat intl. nearby Remarks
Cod connectivi border Forest Human
e ty (km) (km) injury
Human-leopard conflict incidents
2009 Decemb Homestead Tea- 20 75-85 8 Media
1
er Forest garden One adult leopard was beaten to
2009 February Agricultural Tea- 7 65-80 7 death on each case Media
2
NW Area garden
2009 January Peri-urban Tea- 15 33 10 Media
3
garden
2011 October Agricultural Tea- 2-7 32-35 12 Media
8
Area garden
2011 Novemb 9 Agricultural Tea- 2-7 32-35 5 One adult leopard attacked people Media
er Area garden butescaped
2012 March Agricultural Tea- 14-18 55-65 5 One adult leopard was beaten to Media
10
Area garden death on each case
2016 February N 14 Peri-urban No 15 15 3 Media
2017 February NE 15 Forest periphery Forest 10-12 - - One adult leopard attacked Scott
domestic cattle but escaped; Tarap Trageser
Hill Reserve Forest
2018 Decemb NW 18 Homestead Tea- 14-18 55-65 0 One adult leopard was beaten to Media
er Forest garden death
Encounters in the wild
4 7 - - Signs and pugmarks were reported
2010; March-May; SE 5 Chattogram Hill Forest 10 from Rainkhyong Reserve Forest, Chakma
October- 6 Tracts 12 Kasalong Rererve Forest, Sangu- (2015)
November 7 15 Matamuhuri Reserve Forest
2012 July SE 11 Cox’s Bazaar- Destroyed 15-25 30-32 - Calls and pugmarks of leopard were Kabir et al.
 Time of Place of Encounter Closest straight- Nature of Incident
Encounter line
distance Source
Year Month Region Site Type Habitat intl. nearby Remarks
Cod connectivi border Forest Human
e ty (km) (km) injury
2014 January SE 12 Teknaf 15-25 30-32 - observed in 2012 and direct sighting (2017)
Peninsula made in 2014 from Inani National
Park
2015 SE 13 Chattogram Hill Forest 10-12 - - First camera trap image of leopard CCA
Tracts from Bangladesh (2015)
Trade in leopard and leopard derivatives
2017 Novemb Jessore 16 - - - - - Two African leopard cubs were Media
er confiscated
2017 August Dhaka 17 - - - - - Leopard skin confiscated during Media
trade, subspecies not identified
2018 June Naryanga 19 - - - - - Two juvenile African leopard cubs Media
nj were confiscated
2019 October Dhaka 20 - - - - - One leopard skin was confiscated Media
from a curio store with 232 animal
trophies,
Subspecies was not identified
References

CCA. 2015. A preliminary wildlife survey in Sangu-Matamuhuri Reserve Forest, Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh
(unpublished report submitted to Bangladesh Forest Department). CCA, Creative Conservation Alliance, Dhaka.

Chakma S. 2015. Assessment of large mammals of the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh with emphasis on tiger Panther
tigris. PhD Thesis (unpubl.), Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh, pp. 1-209.

Kabir M. T., Ahsan M. F. & Khatoon A. 2017. Occurrence and conservation of the Indian Leopard (Mammalia: Carnivora:
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SOM Plate S1. Paper cutting of media reports on leopard occurrences in Bangladesh between 2008 and 2020.

Northewestern Bangladesh

Fig. 1. Site 1 Nilphamari 2009

Fig. 2. Site 2 Kurigram 2009

Fig. 3. Site 3 Thakurgaon 2009

Fig. 4. Site 8 Lalmonirhat 2011

Fig. 5. Site 9 Lalmonirhat 2011

Fig. 6. Site 10 Panchagarh 2012

Fig. 7. Site 18 Panchagarh 2018

Northern Bangladesh

Fig. 8. Site 14 Sherpur 2016

Northeastern Bangladesh

Fig. 9. Site 15 Habiganj (Tarap Hill Reserve Forest 2017; Photo by Scott Trageser).
Trade in leopard and leopard derivatives

Fig. 10. Site 16 Jessore 2017

Fig. 11. Site 17 Dhaka 2017

Fig. 12. Site 19 Narayanganj 2018

Fig. 13. Site 20 Dhaka 2019

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