The wilds of Bangladesh still have 30 to 50 cheetahs,  an endangered big cat species whose numbers are dwindling worldwide, according to wildlife researchers.

A big portion of the extant cheetah population live in the country’s forest areas of Khagrachhari, Bandarban and Rangamati, Prothom Alo reported.

Cheetahs, considered the fastest land animals, are occasionally seen in Cox's Bazar, several places of Sylhet division and the northern region including Sherpur, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram and Panchagarh.

 The Royal Bengal Tiger and the cheetah have lived side by side in the forest areas of Bangladesh’s three hill tract districts during the 1980s.

The Bengal Tiger is not seen there anymore and now lives in the mangrove forest of Sundarbans only.

Cheetahs are barely surviving in the forests of the three hill tract districts and three other forest areas.

The cheetah population has been going lower over the years as they are being killed when they emerge in search of food, mainly in the country’s northern regions, experts say.

Seven cheetahs have been beaten to death in the bordering districts of the northern region over the past 18 years.

A delegation of an organization working on wildlife, Creative Conservation Alliance spotted a cheetah in Rangamati on 29 March. They took photos of the animal too.

Another cheetah was captured in their cameras in Chattogram Hill Tracts.

Cheetahs  are listed under the Endangered Species Act. According to a 2016 estimate, there are 7,100 Cheetahs in the world.

(SAM)