Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary is an IUCN Category IV protected area located close to the village of

Chunati Chunati is a small village located near the Asian Highway (old Arakan Road) in southeaster Bangladesh between Chittagong and Cox's Bazar in Lohagara Upazila, Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is ...

in the

Chittagong District Chittagong District, renamed the Chattogram District, is a district located in the south-eastern region of Bangladesh. It is a part of the Chattogram Division. The port city of Chattogram, which is the second largest city in Bangladesh, is l ...

of the

Chittagong Division Chittagong Division, officially known as Chattogram Division, is geographically the largest of the eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh. It covers the south-easternmost areas of the country, with a total area of and a population at the 2 ...

in southeastern

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...

History

The Sanctuary was established in 1986 through Gazette Notification XII/For-I/84/174. Covering nearly 7764 hectares, the predominant vegetation was originally

garjan Garjan ( fa, گرجان, also Romanized as Garjān) is a village in Sardabeh Rural District, in the Central District of Ardabil County, Ardabil Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Pers ...

forest, but

illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a p ...

and encroachment for cultivation resulted in a fragmented and degraded habitat. By 2003, secondary scrub covered approximately 44% of the Sanctuary, but various replanting projects have been undertaken with donor support. This was the first wildlife sanctuary in Bangladesh. There are 15 villages in and around the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is home to several endangered timber species.

Wildlife

Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary is a major corridor for the movement of

Asian elephant The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living species of the genus '' Elephas'' and is distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west, Nepal in ...

between Bangladesh and

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. Mammal species in the Sanctuary include

muntjac deer Muntjacs ( ), also known as the barking deer or rib-faced deer, (URL is Google Books) are small deer of the genus ''Muntiacus'' native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Muntjacs are thought to have begun appearing 15–35 million years ago, ...

fishing cat The fishing cat (''Prionailurus viverrinus'') is a medium-sized wild cat of South and Southeast Asia. Since 2016, it is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Fishing cat populations are threatened by destruction of wetlands and have declin ...

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

and

Malayan porcupine The Malayan porcupine or Himalayan porcupine (''Hystrix brachyura'') is a species of rodent in the family Hystricidae. Three subspecies are extant in South and Southeast Asia. Geographical distribution The Malayan porcupine ranges from Nepal th ...

. Birds include the

black-rumped flameback The black-rumped flameback (''Dinopium benghalense''), also known as the lesser golden-backed woodpecker or lesser goldenback, is a woodpecker found widely distributed in the Indian subcontinent. It is one of the few woodpeckers that are seen ...

coppersmith barbet The coppersmith barbet (''Psilopogon haemacephalus''), also called crimson-breasted barbet and coppersmith, is an Asian barbet with crimson forehead and throat, known for its metronomic call that sounds similar to a coppersmith striking metal wit ...

chestnut-headed bee-eater The chestnut-headed bee-eater (''Merops leschenaulti''), or bay-headed bee-eater, is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family Meropidae. It is a resident breeder in the Indian subcontinent and adjoining regions, ranging from India east t ...

, Asian green bee-eater,

greater coucal The greater coucal or crow pheasant (''Centropus sinensis''), is a large non-parasitic member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes. A widespread resident in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, it is divided into several subspe ...

house swift The house swift (''Apus nipalensis'') is a species of swift in the family Apodidae. It is found in Japan, Nepal, and Southeast Asia. It is capable of flying long distances by alternately shutting off hemispheres of their brain in-flight. In May 2 ...

spotted dove The spotted dove (''Spilopelia chinensis'') is a small and somewhat long-tailed pigeon that is a common resident breeding bird across its native range on the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia. The species has been introduced to many parts ...

, black drongo, jungle myna and Asian pied starling

Administration and protection

The park is under the jurisdiction of Bangladesh Forest Department of the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), and is managed by them in cooperation with local communities. The community patrols are led by women in green

sari A sari (sometimes also saree or shari)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * as, শাৰী, xārī, translit-std=ISO * bn, শাড়ি, śāṛi, translit-std=ISO * gu, સાડી, sāḍī, translit-std ...

s. They are from the local community and are funded by U.S.

Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bil ...

and Germany's development agency GTZ. They receive stipends of $50 for their service.

References

External links

Wildlife sanctuaries of Bangladesh Chittagong District Forests of Bangladesh Protected areas established in 1986 1986 establishments in Bangladesh Lower Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests Lohagara Upazila, Chittagong {{Asia-protected-area-stub