The
once-believed to be extinct Nilgai -- the largest antelope in Asia -- was
rescued by local administration from Jotbazar village of Naogaon's Manda
upazila yesterday. It was taken to the animal rescue centre in Rajshahi last
evening after the administration handed it over to the wildlife conservation
division of the forest department, said Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Mushfiqur
Rahman.
“The Nilgai
has injuries all over its body,” said Rahman. The nilgai was declared extinct
in Bangladesh by the International Union for Conservation of Nature but it was
found in India's West Bengal, said Jahangir Kabir, an inspector of the wildlife
conservation division in Rajshahi.
The animal
had also been captured in Thakurgaon last year.
Manda locals
chased the antelope when they found it roaming around Jotbazar area around
9:30am, according to the officials.Surprised by the presence of a creature
unseen before, hundreds of villagers cornered the animal in a pond and later
caught it.
“The
villagers were preparing to slaughter it for a meal,” said Jahangir Kabir. However,
someone later reported the capture of a “big deer” and informed UNO Rahman. He
then sent local forest officials and policemen to the scene, who rescued the
animal. It was taken to the UNO office in the afternoon and handed over to the
forest department. “Our first priority is to give treatment to the Nilgai as it
bears numerous injuries,” said Inspector Kabir.
The forest
department rescued another female Nilgai from Thakurgaon last year which is
still at the rescue centre in Dinajpur, he said.“We will seek advice from
higher officials on whether to arrange a breeding for the Nilgai or release it
back to the wild,” he said. Nilgais were found in the north of Bangladesh until
1940s when they were last sighted in Tetulia and afterwards were declared
extinct from this country. Source: The Daily Star: January 23, 2019
