Madhupur National Park, Tangail, Bangladesh.

Madhupur National Park

Home of the beautiful capped languor monkey, wild boar, barking deer and a galaxy of bird species the Madhupur (mode-uh-poor) National Park, covering around 8500 hectares, is one of the last remaining patches of old-growth Sal forest left in the country. In addition to it’s abundant wildlife, the park also provides a home to the Mandi tribal peoples whom you are almost certain to encounter. Madhupur will turn twitchers twitchy as it’s one of the country’s finest birding locales. There are numerous species, but serious bird-watchers will be most interested in spotting the dusky owl, the brown fish owl, the spotted eagle owl and the famous brown wood owl, which is a specialty of the forest. For many years the forest was used and abused by all and sundry, and though this continues, things are starting to improve thanks to government investment. For the moment, despite the presence of marked trails on the forest-office brochures, many locals (and forestry workers), citing bandits, will insist that is far too dangerous for you to explore the forest on your own. Now, explorations of the forest will likely turn up some rhesus macaque, golden-colored capped languors and small herds of gorgeous spotted deer. There are also three species of civets here. For many years the forest was used and abused by all and sundry, and though this continues, things are starting to improve thanks to government investment. For the moment, despite the presence of marked trails on the forest-office brochures, many locals (and forestry workers), citing bandits, will insist that is far too dangerous for you to explore the forest on your own. Don’t be put off by the word zoo, as it’s more a feeding station for wild animals. The most frequent visitors are the spotted deer and rhesus macaque (who are near enough guaranteed to be hanging around). All up it’s a 10km round trip walk for which you’ll need a guide – ask at the Forest Rest-house.