Plant and Animal Life
Bangladesh in general possesses 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 Sylhet and Chittagong areas, has many low hills covered with jungles of bamboo and ratten (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 flood plains, the vegetation of which consist 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 Sundari, for which the Sundarbans are named; gewa, or gengwa (Excoecariaagallocha), a soft wood tree used for making newsprint; and goran (Ceriops roxburghiana), a type of mangrovr.
Among the astounding variety of flowers are the shapla (water lily), the country’s national flower; the marigold; the lotus jasmine; the the rajani gandha (a tube 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, 750of birds, and 150 of reptiles and amphibians, as well as about 200 species of marine and fresh water fishes.
Elephant living in herds ranging from fewer than a dozen to about 100, are found in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and northwestern 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 samber deer, with it’s named 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.
Bangladesh has four different areas of vegetation. The eastern zone, consisting of parts of Sylhet and Chittagong areas, has many low hills covered with jungles of bamboo and ratten (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 flood plains, the vegetation of which consist 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 Sundari, for which the Sundarbans are named; gewa, or gengwa (Excoecariaagallocha), a soft wood tree used for making newsprint; and goran (Ceriops roxburghiana), a type of mangrovr.
Among the astounding variety of flowers are the shapla (water lily), the country’s national flower; the marigold; the lotus jasmine; the the rajani gandha (a tube 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, 750of birds, and 150 of reptiles and amphibians, as well as about 200 species of marine and fresh water fishes.
Elephant living in herds ranging from fewer than a dozen to about 100, are found in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and northwestern 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 samber deer, with it’s named 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.
