<i>New trophy in animal kingdom </i>

A yellow-throated marten, distant relative of civet, mongoose, badger and otter, spotted for the first time in Bangladesh at Lawachhera forest very early in the morning on March 13. Photo: CM REZA

A new animal has been added to the list of species in Bangladesh when a yellow-throated marten was spotted for the first time by a young banker in Lawachhera forest.
The yellow-throated marten -- a distant relative of civet, mongoose, badger and otter -- was spotted by banker CM Reza about two kilometres inside the Lawachhera forest very early in the morning on March 13.
This beautiful animal in yellow and black coat was so far thought not to exist in Bangladesh.
“It is no doubt a great find for the nation,” Dr Reza Khan, a wildlife expert, said. “It may well be called in Bengali as HALUD GACHH GOKUL.”
The discovery created quite a ripple among the wildlife lovers in Bangladesh.
“It is a big surprise for us who visit Lawachhera frequently,” said Ronal Halder, a bird photographer. “We never even imagined this animal could exist in Bangladesh. It's a big find for us.”
CM Reza spotted the marten on a 40 meter tall tree. It was searching for food and was in sight for about two minutes after which it hid in the forest.
Largest among the Himalayan Martens, this yellow and black coated species is known to live in the Himalayas from below the tree line to 160 meters above the sea level.
“So the Lawachhara population of the animal would represent the lowest elevation in its distributional range,” Dr Khan said.
IUCN considers its world population as not in danger of extinction and as such categorized it as "Least Concerned", added Dr Reza.
“But as it has so far been sighted only once in Bangladesh and that too in a small patch of forest 'island' encircled by heavily populated villages and tea estates, it must be considered as the most highly endangered or critically endangered Marten population,” Dr Rexa said.
The animal measures up to 60cm from the tip of the snout to the base of the tail. Bushy black tail is longer than its cousins' at about 40cm when weight varies from 3lg to 3.5 kg.
Its nearest Indian population lives in Assam.
According to literature, this Marten lives in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan.
Marten is a hill forest dwelling very bold and agile mammal hunting mostly on all creatures bigger and smaller than its size living on trees or on land. It is more apt on trees than on ground.
But hunger-driven, it would run even for the large prey like the pheasants and junglefowls, rats, mice and hares. In addition to animals this marten loves the nectar from Shimul Phul (silk cotton flower) and eggs of birds and reptiles.
It leads a solitary life but a mother might be joined by its growing litter while hunting.
Marten breeds in early summer after a pregnancy of about four months when up to five pups are produced in a litter. Mother takes care of the baby single-handedly for another four months or so.