BANGLADESH
Plants and Animals
Plants and Animals
Plants
White Lily BangladeshPhoto: Public domain
The tropical and subtropical climate provides an exuberant, varied flora. Fruit trees can be found everywhere, such as the banyan, the coconut palm and the mango tree. Much water is covered with a thick layer of water hyacinths and red, blue and white lilies. The white lily is also the national flower. In addition, hibiscus, magnolia, jasmine, bougainvillea and many types of orchids grow there.
The Sundarbans are named after the very common 25-meter high sundari tree there. The hardness of the trunk makes it very well suited for building houses, boats and electricity poles. The most common plant in Bangladesh is a large bamboo species.
Animals
Bengal TigerPhoto: Koshyk CC 2.0 Generic no changes made
The Bengal fauna is very varied with 109 native mammal species, 684 bird species, 119 reptile species, 19 amphibians and approximately 200 marine and freshwater fish species.
The fauna of Bangladesh belongs to the oriental region and is home to the rare Bengal tiger, Bengal fox, swamp crocodile, honey bear and rhesus monkey among others. Of the Bengal tiger, which only lives in three special tiger reserves in the Sundarbans, only about 400 are still alive. The Bengal tiger is the national animal of Bangladesh. Other predators include leopards, fishing cat or fish cat and three types of civets, including the rare Indian civet.
Other large mammals are the Asian elephant (still about 300 wild specimens), wild boar and various deer species, including the sambar, the chital (kind of fallow deer) and the muntjac or bark deer. Smaller mammals include otters, mongoose, and the Asian subcontinent's only anthropoid, the Huah gibbon. After the siamang, the hulah are the largest gibbons. The black Bengal goat is a very small goat species whose meat and milk is widely used.
Reptiles include the sea turtle, river turtle, pythons, crocodiles and various poisonous snakes. The gecko is called "tik-tiki" in Bangladesh.
Dayal thrush BangladeshPhoto: J.M.Garg CC 3.0 Unported no changes made
The Dayal Thrush is the national bird of Bangladesh. The weeping maina or Indian maina (Bengali: Shalik) is found throughout Bangladesh. There are 12 kingfisher species (Bengali: machhhranga) in Bangladesh, including the brown-winged kingfisher, the black-capped kingfisher, the white-collared kingfisher and the relatively rare red-tailed kingfisher. There are also 22 species of woodpeckers (Bengali: kaththokra) including the special cockade woodpecker.
The Madhupur Forest is an important habitat for several owl species, including the rare brown tawny owl, Coromandel eagle owl, brown fishing owl and Bengal eagle owl.
Other regions with special bird species:
Sylhet: Baer's pochard, white-banded sea eagle
Srimangal near the Indian border: Blue-bearded bee-eater
Noakhali region: spoon-billed sandpiper, Nordmann's or spotted green-legged horseshoe, Indian scissors beak
In addition to the endangered animals mentioned above, the following mammals are also more or less seriously endangered: crested langur, bushy hare or Assam rabbit (also called: Bengal rabbit), Asiatic golden cat, Assam macaque, lion macaque, bear macaque, Barasinga deer, deer goat antelope or black goat, clouded leopard , dhole (aka: Asiatic wild dog, rubella, alpine dog or adjak), Indian manatee, Irawadi squirrel, Sumatran forest gems, sloth bear and slender otter.
Sources
Beurden, J. van / Bangladesh : mensen, politiek, economie, cultuur, milieu
Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen
Brace, S. / Bangladesh
Thomson Learning
McAdam, M. / Bangladesh
Lonely Planet
Whyte, M. / Bangladesh
Marshall Cavendish
CIA - World Factbook
BBC - Country Profiles
Copyright: Team The World of Info