Conservationists in Bangladesh are thrilled after the discovery by local villagers of a clouded leopard cub, a species which was previously thought extinct in that country.
This is the first time a clouded leopard has been spotted in Bangladesh in 20 years. The cub, which was captured by the villagers, was seen with a sibling and their mother while they were eating a dead monkey. That means there may be a small but healthy breeding population surviving in the wild.
Only the one cub was captured, as the mother and other cub managed to escape. The villagers, who are from the Chittagong Hill Tracts in southeast Bangladesh, originally intended to cage and sell the leopard to the highest bidder, but once conservationists got wind of the story they were pressured to release it back into the wild.
Unfortunately, the report didn’t indicate how the cub was released back into the wild. It’s not clear whether the cub will fare well in the wild without being directly re-issued to its mother, a scenario which is pretty unlikely given the difficulty of locating the animal.
Even so, its discovery does bring renewed hope that the clouded leopard is still surviving and breeding in the remaining woodlands of Bangladesh. And the discovery should now revive conservation efforts to protect the species.
“We are delighted. For many years now, we had thought this animal was gone or was going,” said Professor Anwarul Islam, head of the Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh. “It’s good to know that they are still there and that they are breeding.”
Source: The Independent
Image Credit: AFP/Getty
About Bryan Nelson
Good news! However, the articles would be much more informational if you could include the binomial names of the animals.
Regards
congratulation sir it’s really thankful to you that you save a life of one cub leopard. i am realy proud & happy to know this. best of luck to you for further success.
Whilst it’s good news the species isn’t extinct it’s a great shame this leopard isn’t safe with its mother.
After all these years, this is good news? The villagers still planned to kill it, and none of the puffed-up conservationists on hand were able to make sure it got back to its mother. No progress.
Maye he was better off being thought to be extinct
I hope the cub will be okay since its without its mother, they should’ve put it back where they found it.
This show clearly what a low-life humans are. They are devastating the earth. People who take an animal from its mother are deserving of extinction. That alone will make the earth whole.
Funny how the article says there “may” be a small breeding population.
It should be there “is”!!!!!
Have the conservationists who pressured the villagers to release the cub (without first providing for a safe return — that was badly done) doing anything further to discourage a similar capture?
Will these people stop trapping animals for sale?
I’m very uneasy about how this entire event unfolded.
I’m glad conservationists got involved.
But, what’s to prevent another clouded leopard cub from being trapped? The villagers WILL set out more traps — perhaps not intending to catch another clouded leopard, but the traps don’t care what kind of animal they trap.
Bangladesh is a poor country and villagers trap animals because it’s income. That needs to be addressed — or else this will continue.
And there has to be a better protocol to handle this — than to simply turn the cub loose. Paradoxically — it might have lived if it had been sold to a conservation group.
There are successful clouded leopard breeding programs at highly regarded zoos. Nobody wants to put the baby leopard in a zoo — but if it won’t find its mom and dies alone in the wild — what good has been done here?
A little planning might help the next baby that finds itself staring through the bars of a trap…at a human who stares back and sees nothing but dollars.
why wouldn’t they try to release it back to it’s mother? it could die then they would be somewhat a reason for it being an endangered or “extinct” species.
I agree! They are extinct because of people! Leave them ALONE.
why was it “captured”?why was it not allowed to live with it’s mother away from the dangers of humans?
It’s great news that they found this lil cutie but how in the world is it a good thing to release it back to the wild? It’s a baby how can it survive without it’s mom to teach it to hunt and survive? It has the scent of humans on it I’m sure. That lil cutie won’t survive more than a day or two in the wild. How sad!!!!
This article states: “That means there ‘may’ be a small but healthy breeding population surviving in the wild.” Of course there is a small group… at least two, a male & a female. That precious little cub didn’t make itself! There are many animals that are labeled as extinct that are actually not. I can’t wait until someone finds a dinosaur deep in the African jungle!
I think you should return the cub to the MOTHER!
How do you speak of such happiness of the “Extinct” leopard when you are taking away the population once again; by taking the cub away. This is the same damn shameful way you people repetitively do .. I am ashamed to call myself a human being when compared to the likes of you disgusting people. For once learn from your mistakes, don’t steal what isn’t yours…picture you having a child and some other tribe comes by and says oh lets steal it and trap it for the rest of its life just because we have not seen its kind in so long. Shame on you!
i agree great shame that the cub was not reunited emidiately with it’s moother given the tough conditions but it’s exctatic to hear about this species being reborn. it gives us alot of hope.
How sad to cage the little cub….no wonder species die off…Educating the villagers might be helpful so they don’t do it again..
That is great Clouded Leopards are not extinct in Bangladesh, like thought! I really wish the cub would not have been captured though. If their population is low, every animal is precious to restoring a healthy population again.
Well, I guess now we know why the clouded leopard is going extinct. And what kind of conservation group would not supervise a controlled release of the cub in an area where the mother was last seen. Or if the mother cannot be found, this cub would be better off in a good conservation facility…maybe a mate could be secured to produce offspring to propagate this species. This cub probably died. What a waste….
While it is delighful to discover how resilient and beautiful our fellow beings can be, it is painful to hear that it was captured to be sold indicating the ignorance we are still faced with in our conservation efforts, and simply heartbreaking to think that it was then simply released on its own back into the wild, to its almost certain death, I send prayers of safety and health.
Peace
I think it’s flat out ridiculous that they would capture this animal and then CONSIDER releasing it back into the wild. They will never find it’s sibling or the mother. What a waste.
That little cub look so scared and sad. Will there be an attempt to reunite it with it’s mother?
I quite agree! The poor little thing was only going about its new little life, and then to be rudely taken from its family…well, that brings tears to my eyes! The villagers need to be held responsible for the actions they took! Plain and simple!
hello the leopard was captured from vilagers and took a way from there mother and what if you was that some baby cub and has not been eating and bleeding of has death and look at that picture again and think really hand a about that and all.
While it seems wrong to be sold to the highest bidder, someone trustworthy should have kept the cub because I see no way of it surviving in the wild without its mother, much less if it’s a species previously thought to be extinct. I see it being the food of vultures already, poor animal.
I hope the cub finds his mother.:(
I hope a huge effort is put forth to help the continued survival of this species of leopard. Too many species of animals have been wiped out by human ignorance. It’s about time we start doing something to right that terrible wrong.
It is very good news seeing a species once thought to be extinct…. But why the cub was captured is beyond me. Seems like the cub has a much better chance for survival in the wild with its mother… not to mention to try and preserve the species. Capturing this animal was just plain stupid if you ask me.
People’s stupidity never stop to amaze me. Here we are finding a whole family of a species we tought were extinct, and what is the only thing that come to our mind? Lets capture one of the maybe 4 or 5 remaining specimen, separate him from it’s mother (his only way to grow adult and healthy), put it in a cage, take some picture and release it to a certain dead away from his family… I certainly hope we won’t find a dodo still alive somewhere because we would probably shoot the bird so we can show it’s dead body in the news and prove they we’re not yet fully extinct…
That’s true. It is a shame. I hope the cub reunites with Mom and its sibling.
I really hope they didn’t just dump it somewhere. What a sickening thought.
Agreed. Poor thing shouldn’t be in a cage.
What a shame that some humans, whenever finding something rare and good, take it or trash it, forever changing what was natural and beautiful. The cub should have been left alone with it’s mother. It is quite possible if it was put back close enough and due to their powerful sense of smell, it could find its way back to her.
Proving once again that humans are incredibly stupid, too stupid to have survived this long. The villagers manage to capture a rare, if not almost extinct, creature and what’s the first thing they do? Try to sell it to the highest bidder for money. The money will get spent, but the clouded leopard may never appear again on this earth. Geez, what’s wrong with people?
God what complete morons!! They catch a clouded leapord cub (or any wild animal) to sell…then release it AFTER the mother is long gone ensuring its starvation or death by a predator.
This is exactly why they are extinct to begin with.
Sick bastards.
It worries me the cub released back in the wild won’t survive without its’ mother … we’ll never know for sure anyway.
This is very sad – to catch a young animal & then just set it free with no concern for his/her safety. No one could do something more for this little animal?
I disagree with Jasmine. It would not have been better for someone “trustworthy” to have kept this cub. Who do you consider trustworthy? This cub was going to be sold to the highest bidder and that, probably, would have been someone who hunts these animals for medicinal properties. Do I agree with it being released in the wild alone? Hell no. What should have happened when they got these people to agree to turn it loose was to find a zoo (still not a perfect scenario) to take care of it. It has little chance of finding its mother and will die of starvation if no other predator finds it first.
I hope the people take better care of them this time it would be a shame to let this wouderful animal die off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WoW We are humans have still not learned a thing, sick sick sick we are distroying the earth with our greed
This is one of the most disturbing stories I have read in a while. When will people ever learn? Not only are we taking up any natural habitat these animals have left, but we are trying to sell off the ones who are unlucky enough to stray out too far. It is a sad day when you actually realize that the days of living in harmony with animals is gone.
Consider this:
Next time this situation arises — the conservation group needs to step forward and ensure it makes the highest bid.
It turns the cub over to a reputable clouded leopard breeding program (there’s one in India, not far away.)
But the conservationists can’t stop there — otherwise these villagers will see there’s a reward ($) but no penalty for catching wildlife to sell.
They’re not stupid people. They’re not evil. They’re poor. They see cubs as desperately needed income.
Would you save a cub, or feed your family?
Unfortunately for the clouded leopard — they both live in an endangered ecosystem.
Conservationists can bring to bear resources that help people access the basic necessities.
The villagers can then be brought into the effort to preserve these cats and their environment.
It can become their mission — to protect and preserve. Handled properly, it can even become a source of income.
It’s been done elsewhere. Check out http://www.cloudedleopard.org operating in Vietnam.
This approach entails some serious time and investment. It requires absolute commitment and dependable financial support.
Shooting off emails expressing outrage is very necessary, too! The WORLD needs to see what’s going on! But it’s a just a start.
The hardest part is putting the infrastructure in place: a dedicated program with boots on the ground — in Bangladesh.
Then WE need to keep sending them dollars. A grassroots effort can add up to plenty money.
We can’t rescue the leopards — and leave the people in misery. They BOTH inhabit that ecosystem. We have to rescue BOTH, together.