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Animals
The Sundarbans
Animal life of Bangladesh
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The Royal Bengal Tiger
The majestic Royal Bengal Tiger is the national animal Bangladesh. Highly endangered, the Royal Bengal can now be mostly be found in the Sundarbans.
One of the largest of the 'big cats', it has extremely bold and striking colour pattern - making it perhaps the most magnificent and sought-after fiery beast of the world! The vivid pattern of stripes on the glossy skin serves as a very effective camouflage in the grasses and foliage almost in all the seasons.
The male averages 3 metres in length including 1 meter of tail and wiighs about 180 kg., though much larger speciemens have been lnown. The giant one is the Siberian tiger, almost 4 metres long and weighing about 300 kg.
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Deers
Deers
The Sambar Deer is the most widely spread deer species in the world, covering many countries in the Asian continent. It is also one of the larger members of the deer family. Some males are known to weigh up to 300 kgs and can grow to a height ranging from 135 - 150 cms at the shoulders.
These animals have a life expectancy ranging between 16 - 20 years. They are the favourite prey species of the tiger. A large sambar can feed a feed tiger for up to 4 days. Unlike the Spotted deer, which shouts an alarm and darts away at the sight of a predator, the sambar tends to alertly watch and keep giving alarm calls until the danger has passed. A reason due to which many of them fall prey for predators. The Sambar can be found in the wooded hills of the north-east and east.
 The Barking Deer |  The Chital Deer |
The Chital (spotted deer) is also very common in the forests of the Sundarban. The Chital is perhaps the most beautiful of all deer. Its coat is bright rufous-fawn profusely spotted with white at all ages and all seasons. They are seen in herds of 10-30, which contains 2-3 stags. They are seen in grassy forest glades, forest edges, woodland and shaded streams in moist and dry deciduous forests upto 1000 m. Average height is 36 in. (90 cm.) and weighs about 190 lb. (85 kg.)
The barking deers are small deer of the forests. They are noted for barking like dogs when alarmed and during the breeding season, and for having tiny antlers and tusklike canine teeth.
The barking deers are small deer of the forests. They are noted for barking like dogs when alarmed and during the breeding season, and for having tiny antlers and tusklike canine teeth.
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 | Apes and MonkeysPrimates also abound all over Bangladesh, but most abundantly in the Sundarbans and the Hill Tracts. |
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Elephants
The elephant is mostly found in the wild in the Hill Tracts and is also a protected animal. Elephant habitat in Bangladesh is confined almost entirely to the forested hills of the east, and even there habitat is giving way to monoculture plantations of teak, rubber, and tea.
Only 200-350 wild elephants are thought to survive, with herds moving between Bangladesh and neighbouring India. There may be around 50 domestic elephants.
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Plant and animal life
Bangladesh in general possesses a luxuriant vegetation, with villages appearing to be virtually buried in groves of mango, jackfruit, bamboo, betel nut, coconut, and date palm. About 15 percent of the country's land surface is covered with forests. Bangladesh has four different areas of vegetation. The eastern zone, consisting of parts of the Sylhet and Chittagong areas, has many low hills covered with jungles of bamboo and rattan (a species of climbing palm). The most common plant is a large kind of bamboo that is the basis of the country's paper industry. The central zone, covering parts of the country extending north of Dhaka, contains a large number of lakes and swampy vegetation; the soil of part of this zone is laterite, which produces the Madhupur jungles.
The area lying to the northwest of the Brahmaputra and to the southwest of the Padma forms a flat plain, the vegetation of which consists mostly of cultivated plants and orchards. Babul (Acacia arabica) is the most conspicuous plant. The southern zone along the Bay of Bengal contains the Sundarbans, with their distinctive mangrove vegetation. In this vast forest grow many commercially valuable trees, such as the sundri, for which the Sundarbans are named (Heritiera fomes or minor); gewa, or gengwa (Excoecaria agallocha), a softwood tree used for making newsprint; and goran (Ceriops roxburghiana), a type of mangrove.
Among the astounding variety of flowers are the shapla (water lily), the country's national flower; the marigold; the lotus jasmine; the rajani gandha (a tuber rose); the china rose (jaba); the flame of the forest; and the bokul (Mimusops elengi). Bangladesh is said to have about 200 species of mammals, 750 of birds, and 150 of reptiles and amphibians, as well as about 200 species of marine and freshwater fishes. Elephants, living in herds ranging from fewer than a dozen to about 100, are found in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and northeastern Sylhet.
The domesticated, or water, buffalo are used for plowing and pulling carts. Of the different kinds of deer, the barking deer, the barasingh (or 12-horned deer), and the sambar deer, with its maned neck, are well known. The barasingh, which reaches a height of about four feet at the shoulder, mostly inhabits the Sundarbans. The sambar, which lives in the eastern jungles of the country, attains a height of four and a half feet and a length of six to seven feet. The spotted deer, the barking deer, and the hog deer are smaller species. Of the carnivores, the royal Bengal tiger is the best known.
The clouded leopard, dark gray with spots that are oval or oblong in form, is smaller than the leopard. The ferocious leopard cat is about the size of the domestic cat but with longer legs. There are three types of bear: the sloth bear, the Himalayan black bear, and the Malayan sun bear. The sloth bear is the most numerous. The jackal, whose eerie howling at night is a familiar sound in Bangladesh, is a common animal, as is the mongoose.
The Bengal, or rhesus, monkey is the most common primate in the country. The common house crow is found everywhere, and its shrill cries are detested by the people of Bangladesh, who regard them as a bad omen. The bulbul, the magpie robin, and a wide variety of warblers are also found; some are migrants that appear only in winter.
Several kinds of flycatchers also occur, and there are mynah birds of several kinds. Other species of birds include the common game birds, parakeets, cuckoos, hawks, owls, kingfishers, hornbills, woodpeckers, and vultures. Among the eagles, the crested serpent eagle and the ring-tailed fishing eagle are the most common. There are also hoopoes, herons, storks, ducks, and wild geese.
Latest page update: made by BANGLADESH
, Jul 6 2008, 12:26 AM EDT
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