World Animal Day today
Cox’s Bazar is known to tourists mainly for its long sea beach, but its extensive hills and evergreen forests are equally important for the district’s biodiversity. Asian elephants, barking deer, capped langurs, pig-tailed macaques, porcupines, jungle cats, leopard cats and many other wild animals still roam its forests.
Some of the country’s endangered western hoolock gibbons and, more recently, the elusive clouded leopard have also been recorded in the district’s forests, highlighting their importance as wildlife habitats.
World Animal Day is being observed today, October 4, with a focus on people’s responsibility towards animals and the importance of protecting their habitats. Conservationists in Cox’s Bazar emphasize that safeguarding wildlife is inseparable from preserving the forests that serve as their habitats.
According to the Forest Department, Cox’s Bazar has the Teknaf Wildlife Sanctuary, Fasiakhali Wildlife Sanctuary, Inani National Park and Baishari Bankdepa Wildlife Sanctuary.
The Teknaf Wildlife Sanctuary covers 11,614.57 hectares, while Fasiakhali Wildlife Sanctuary covers 1,302.42 hectares and Inani National Park 7,085 hectares. Baishari Bankdepa Wildlife Sanctuary was established in 2023.
Rare wildlife found in Inani forest
The Inani forest in Ukhiya has recently drawn renewed attention for its rich wildlife diversity.
A study conducted between 2022 and 2023 recorded 23 mammal species in Inani National Park. Asian elephants, western hoolock gibbons and clouded leopards, among them are listed as critically endangered in Bangladesh’s National Red List.
The study also recorded endangered species such as northern red muntjacs, pig-tailed macaques, capped langurs and slow lorises.
Another study found seven groups of western hoolock gibbons, comprising 18 individuals, in the Inani area. Researchers say Inani is an important habitat for hoolock gibbons and other endangered wildlife, although increasing pressure on forest resources and habitats is putting these animals at risk of local extinction.
Recent research has also confirmed clouded leopards in Inani forest.
The area is also home to Asian elephants, capped langurs, pig-tailed macaques, porcupines, rhesus macaques, foxes, civets, jungle cats, leopard cats, wild boars, crab-eating mongooses, barking deer, yellow-throated martens, bats and various species of squirrels.
Cox’s Bazar forests important for elephants
The Asian elephant is one of the most important wildlife species found in Cox’s Bazar’s forests.
Fasiakhali Wildlife Sanctuary has been identified as an important elephant habitat. Besides elephants, the sanctuary is home to rhesus macaques, capped langurs, porcupines and wild boars.
The Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary, which extends into parts of Chakaria upazila, is also important for elephants. According to the Forest Department, the 7,764-hectare sanctuary is home to a significant elephant population.
Elephants frequently venture into human settlements when food and safe roaming areas in forests diminish, leading to human-elephant conflict. Protecting elephant habitats and maintaining their traditional movement routes is therefore as important as protecting the animals themselves.
Forests shelter small animals too
The importance of Cox’s Bazar’s forests extends beyond large mammals such as elephants, deer and clouded leopards.
Birds, reptiles, amphibians, bats, insects and other small animals also play important roles in maintaining the ecological balance of forest ecosystems.
Older Forest Department data on Inani Reserved Forest recorded 15 mammal species, 65 bird species, 6 amphibian species, and 15 reptile species.
Kudum Cave in the Teknaf Wildlife Sanctuary is another important biodiversity habitat. Researchers have recorded two species of bats, four species of snails, four species of fish, and three species of spiders there.
Protecting forests is key to protecting wildlife
Pressure on Cox’s Bazar’s forests is increasing due to tourism, expanding settlements, and the construction of roads and other infrastructure.
Forest clearance, human intrusion into forest areas and increased movement through wildlife habitats are among the factors that can reduce safe spaces for wild animals.
The continued presence of endangered species such as hoolock gibbons, clouded leopards and Asian elephants shows that Cox’s Bazar’s forests remain important wildlife refuges. However, conservationists say their presence also reminds them to ensure these habitats remain secure.
Nazrul Islam, organising secretary of the Cox’s Bazar district unit of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA), said wildlife could survive only if forests were protected.
“If the forests survive, wildlife will survive. And without wildlife, ecological balance cannot be maintained. Settlement development in forest areas and the construction of roads and other structures in certain locations threaten wildlife. The forests must be protected from these activities,” he said.
Experts say wildlife conservation cannot be limited to rescuing animals. Protecting forest land, preserving wildlife corridors, restricting uncontrolled human access to forests and hills, and involving local communities in long-term conservation efforts are also essential.
On World Animal Day, the message for Cox’s Bazar’s forests is therefore clear: protecting wildlife begins with protecting their habitats. If the forests cannot be safeguarded, some of the rare species still surviving in the hills and forests of Cox’s Bazar could eventually disappear from the district.
By Abdu Rashid Manik
Photo: Collected
