Wildlife Diversity of Madhupur National Park , Bangladesh

The study was conducted to know the wildlife diversity of Madhupur National Park of Bangladesh from June 2014 to March 2015. A total of 151 species of wildlife (amphibians to mammals) belonging to 23 orders and 62 families were recorded which covers 16.41% of total wildlife species in our country. Among them 10 (7%) were amphibians, 15 (10%) reptiles, 111 (73%) birds and 15 (10%) mammals while 65 (43.05%) were very common, 41 (27.16%) common, 25 (16.55%) uncommon and 20 (13.24%) were rare. Among the 20 species of migratory birds, 15 (75%) were winter visitors and 5 (25%) summer visitors. The forests and other wildlife habitats in and around Madhupur National Park are decreasing rapidly due to illegal logging, land conversion for agriculture and human settlements.


INTRODUCTION
In Bangladesh the diversity at the species level is commonly referred, because the species level can be sampled easily. This study was conducted to sample the wildlife diversity of Madhupur National Park in central Bangladesh and to compare the status across the different groups. Literally wildlife means the life forms living in the wild i.e., the life forms living independently of humans. Official definition of wildlife differs from country to country, but typically focuses on wild vertebrates except fish, i.e. mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. As many as 31 species of wildlife have been identified as Regionally Extinct (RE) by IUCN-Bangladesh (IUCN, 2015). Among them 11 species were mammals (Striped Hyena, Grey Wolf, Swamp Deer, Sloth Deer, Blackbuck, Nilgai, Banteng, Wild Water Buffalo, Sumatran Rhinoceros, Javan Rhinoceros, and Indian Rhinoceros), 19 birds (Rufous-throated Partridge, Indian Peafowl, Green Peafowl, Grey Francolin, Swamp Francolin, White-winged Duck, Pink-headed Duck, Sarus Crane, Bengal Florican, Lesser Florican, Greater Adjutant, White-bellied Heron, Spot-billed Pelican, Red-headed Vulture, Rusty-fronted Barwing, Black-breasted Parrotbill, Spotbreasted Parrotbill, Rufous-headeded Parrotbill, and Bar-tailed Treecreeper), and 1 reptile (Marsh Crocodile). Some relevant works have been done on the birds of Madhupur forest or Tangail district (Islam 1983, Khan & Islam 2000, Haque 1975, Khan & Ahsan 2011 Study Area: Madhupur National Park is the largest deciduous forest of Bangladesh, located in the Madhupur Garh, comprises an area of 8436 ha (DoE, 2015& IUCN, 2015. The Park is situated in the northeastern part of Tangail Forest Division along the boundary with Mymensingh district (it also extends slightly into the district) and 125 km away from Dhaka. It is located from 24°36' to 24°42' North latitudes and 90°00' to 90°06' East longitudes (Figure 1). The altitude of the park is about 20 m above the mean sea level (Khan & Ahsan, 2011). Madhupur National Park began as Madhupur Shal (Shorea robusta) Forest, but was finally declared as National Park on 24 February 1982 (Bangladesh Forest Department 2015), although justify for national park status began as early as 1962 (Bangladesh Forest Department 2015).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Study on wildlife diversity of Madhupur National Park was done from June 2014 to March 2015. The observation was made for four or five days per month. A total of 47 days (spending 510 hours) were spent to collect data. The observations started early in the morning, immediate after sunrise and continued after sunset till 8.00 pm, with midday break. Wildlife species were identified by using Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna Bangladesh, 2009, references books and publications (Grimmett 2011, Halder 2010, Hasan 2014, Khan 2008. The methods that were followed are plot counting, line transect sampling and interviews of local people. Direct Observation: Materials and Methods used by the authors, Daniel (1963), Husain & Rahman (1978), Rahman (1985, Sarker & Sarker (1985), Khan (1998) were used in the direct field observation -Line-transect Sampling: Data regarding the different species available in the study areas were recorded by line-transect sampling. Counting was conducted along the roads in the villages and cultivated lands.
Plot Counting: To observe the amphibian fauna, plot counting methods were used.
Calls and Songs: Some bird species which were normally not hut seen, but recorded by hearing songs and calls.
The observation and data collection methods used for different groups of wildlife are described below -Amphibians: Plot counting method was applied for collecting data about amphibian species. Each of 300 m × 300 m of plots were selected in the study area and they were further divided into few mini transect lines.

Reptiles:
For the lizards and snakes plot counting method and line-transect method as well as information through questionnaire were used. The questionnaire based information could only provide the presence and abundance of the species.
Birds: Only line-transect method was applied for collecting data on birds. The length and width of each transect line were 500 m and 30 m, respectively.

Mammals:
For the information about the mammalian species line-transect method, plot counting method and information through questionnaire were used. Plot counting method was preferably applied for counting rats, mice, monkeys, shrews, and so on.
Four categories were used to express the status of different species (Khan, 2008): Very Common (VC) -a species seen during 76-100% of the visits; Common (C) -a species seen during 51-75% of the visits; Uncommon (UC) -a species seen during 26-50% of the visits; and Rare (R) -a species seen single or in small number of occasions, i.e. up to 25% of the visits when it is most active.
Once Eurasian Wild Boar, Tiger, Leopard, Sambar Deer, Wild Water Buffalo, Red Jungle Fowl, Peacock, Turtle, Green Frog and many other animals were very common, but now because of continuous hunting by the Garo community, these species are becoming rare in this forest (Zaman, 2015). Habitat loss, illegal hunting, trapping and collecting of wild species, random use of agrochemicals, and lack of awareness were identified as threats to wildlife species in Madhupur National Park. Human encroachment, illegal hunting or trapping of wild animal should be controlled by creating public awareness to conserve wildlife of Madhupur National Park.