Last month, 48 animals — including endangered species like Asian black bears (Ursus thibetanus), greater adjutant storks (Leptoptilos dubius) and Bengal slow lorises (Nycticebus bengalensis) — were found to be kept captive, all in a debilitated condition, at an illegally established mini zoo in Mymensingh in north-central Bangladesh. On April 8, the Forest Department’s Wildlife Crime Control Unit (WCCU) team and a few local volunteers, led by wildlife inspector Nargis Sultana, rescued the animals from the mini zoo, located about 124 kilometers (77 miles) north of Bangladesh’s capital city, Dhaka. Nargis briefed Mongabay on the condition in which she found the captive animals. One of the bears, she said, suffered from severe injuries while the other animals were served rotten feed, and their accommodations were uncomfortably congested. “Those animals, suspected to be collected from poachers, were [brought to] the menagerie more than a decade ago when they were young. They have grown up, but their cages were never [changed to larger ones],” Nargis told Mongabay. Since its inception in 2012, the WCCU has stepped up efforts to rescue wildlife from poachers and traffickers, backed by the Wildlife (Conservation and Protection) Law and aided by committed forest officials and volunteers. Corrupt political influence had long shielded illegal menageries in Bangladesh, but the situation has changed after the fall of the authoritarian regime in August 2024. Since then, the Forest Department has rescued wildlife by busting several illegal menageries in districts far from their natural habitats. While wildlife conservationists commend WCCU’s rescue…This article was originally published on Mongabay