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.

[social_buttons]

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