Noted zoologist and wildlife expert Mohammed Anisuzzaman Khan passed away on Monday, leaving behind his wife, son, daughter, siblings, and a host of friends and well-wishers to mourn his death.

Anisuzzaman, the younger sibling of prominent wildlife expert and birder Reza Khan, was born on September 30, 1954, at his ancestral home in Manikganj.

He inspired hundreds of people to join hands in nature conservation efforts across the country.

Anisuzzaman was found dead in a bus. He was travelling from Chattogram to Dhaka after attending a programme in the port city.

Shuvo Ranjan Chakma, duty officer of Chouddagram Police Station in Cumilla, said Anisuzzaman was found dead on the bus's chair when it stopped at the Time Square restaurant at Miarbazar, Cumilla.

Later police handed over the body to his family. He was buried at Uttara sector-10 graveyard yesterday morning.

Anisuzzaman graduated from Rajshahi University in 1977 and did his master's in 1978.

Later, he participated in training and workshops organised by the Zoological Survey of India in 1984 and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in 1984.

He also worked briefly for International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Dhaka.

Survey of natural resources of St Martin Island, Sonadia Island biodiversity conservation plan, Biodiversity mapping of Karnafuli river and its recovery plans, Biodiversity mapping of Sangu and Matamuhuri rivers and taking conservation efforts, Survey and research in the coastal area with polders, Afforestation on the bank of Karnafully, Sangu and Matamuhuri rivers, Finding water source in the hilly area for sustainable water management, and Research and survey in the swatch of no ground was some of the works he did in the recent years.

He was the life member of Wildlife Society of Bangladesh, Bombay Natural History Society, India, member of IUCN Commission on Ecosystem, adviser to River Foundation, Save our Sea, founder member of Nature Conservation Management (Nacom) etc.

While expressing his shocks, Reza Khan said Anisuzzaman sacred his life for the conservation of wildlife and nature. He was the person who first started the bird census in the 1990s and first spotted endangered Spoonbilled Sandpiper on the coast of Bangladesh.

Kabir Bin Anwar, senior secretary of the water resources ministry and chairman of Isabela Foundation, said the early demise of Anisuzzaman was an irreparable loss for the country's conservation efforts.