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Cyrtodactylus tripuraensis (Agarwal, Mahony, Giri, Chaitanya & Bauer, 2018) was recently described from Tripura state of northeast India. In June 2018, we found a subadult and an adult male individual in Lawachara National Park, ‎Maulvibazar District, Sylhet Division, Bangladesh. We identify the individuals as C. tripuraensis based on morphological study. Though the new locality of C. tripuraensis is approximately only 40 km away from the nearest locality in Tripura state, India, this is the first record of this species in Bangladesh.

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not available Bangladesh J. Zool. 49 (3): 441-445, 2021

Agricultural expansion has had a detrimental effect on tropical forests and the animal communities that depend on them. Agroforestry systems, however, with their more complex tree and plant communities, have been shown to be important habitats for a range of globally threatened species, including nocturnal animals. Here, we present novel data on the encounter rates of seven species of nocturnal mammals in relation to agroforestry systems within four national parks and associated plantations in Bangladesh to examine if encounter rates were influenced by the human population density, presence of plantations, and human access as represented by a Human Influence Index of anthropogenic disturbance. We walked 70.3 km of transects with only semi-natural forest, 26.9 km of transects with semi-natural forest and gardens, and 21.7 km of transects with semi-natural forest and monocultures over 55 nights from 2017–2019. Of the seven species of nocturnal mammals we detected, all were present in Satachari National Park, whereas six occurred in Lawachara National Park, Rajkandi Forest Range, and Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary. Within these national parks, three species (Bengal slow loris, large Indian civet, particolored flying squirrel) were more frequently recorded in areas with human disturbance, especially agroforestry plantations. With declining forest cover in Bangladesh, we highlight here the potential of agroforestry systems as emerging important habitats for these species. We encourage long-term studies of these lesser-studied taxa to understand fully the capacity of agroforestry systems in order to support their long-term conservation.

Venomous snakes are one of the most dreadful animals globally that kill their victims by injecting venoms (toxic substances) using fangs. However, snakes are being used for numerous vital life-saving purposes, including antivenom and traditional medicines, pain killers, cancer treatment, cardiac arrest, paralysis, arthritis, anti-ageing, and cosmetics to leather products, foods, display and research. This study was conducted to investigate the current status, challenges and prospects of snake farming in Bangladesh using self-structured questionnaires surveys. In this study, in total, 281 snakes belonging to 12 species i.e., common krait Bungarus caeruleus, banded krait B. fasciatus, greater black krait Bungarus niger, monocled cobra Naja kaouthia, spectacled cobra Naja naja, king cobra Ophiophagus hannah, russell's viper Daboia russelii, indian python Python molurus, common sand boa Eryx conicus, common cat snake Boiga trigonata, common wolf snake Lycodon aulicus and rat snake Ptyas mucosa were observed. This study also showed that the largest snake farm was at Patuakhali, where about 231 venomous snake individuals were reared, while 35 snakes were reared in Rajshahi farm, eight and seven snakes were reared in Rajbari and Gazipur farms, respectively. These snakes were collected from snake catchers/charmers and rescued from several places and nature. Snakes were fed on natural feeds (toad, frog, rat, and snake) and chickens. These farms had small to medium tin-shed building infrastructure with minimal facilities and used tanks, cages, and vivaria for snake rearing, breeding, and displaying. Snake farmers had not received any training, but some skilled snake handlers operated these farms. These snake farms did not keep managemental activities records and lack of proper design. These were not collected and preserved snake venom and were mainly involved in snake displaying. Although this study did not explore much information but snake farming may have great potential in Bangladesh; thus, more research is warranted on proper snake farming facilities. However, the government could be initiated the establishment of a modern and sophisticated snake farm for research, development, conservation, and venom collection including antivenom production and pharmaceutical purposes. Hence, the existing snake resources and skilled professionals may assist the government in snake farming activities. Bangladesh J. Zool. 50 (1): 121-133, 2022