Rescued Nilgai still in shock
Sitting inside an enclosure at the Wildlife Rescue Centre in Rajshahi city yesterday, the Nilgai kept on panting.
The rare antelope looked tired with its wide eyes reflecting a certain fear and confusion.
Every time, someone went closer, it stood up and attempted to jump a few times, with ropes around its neck, as if it was trying to break free, thinking about the traumatising experience it had to endure, said Zillur Rahman, Rajshahi divisional forest officer (DFO).
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 on Tuesday.
It was taken to the animal rescue centre in Rajshahi the same evening after the administration handed it over to the Wildlife Conservation Division of the Forest Department.
“The antelope lost a lot of energy, struggling through the daylong attacks on it before rescue,” said DFO Rahman. “We have forbidden visitors as the Nilgai needs rest,” he added.
He said the animal might have made its way into Bangladesh from India through any of the Indian frontiers at Naogaon's Sapahar or Dhamoirhat or Dinajpur's Hili.
But Jahangir Kabir, an inspector of Wildlife Conservation Division, who led a team of eight forest officials during the rescue, believed an “organised gang” might have smuggled it into the country for slaughtering and selling its meat.
“I heard some locals say that the Nilgai jumped off a truck while being carried along with cattle,” Kabir said.
When the gang members started chasing it, locals joined them out of curiosity as they have never seen such an animal before, he said. “Rescuing the Nilgai from locals was our main challenge,” Kabir said.
When Kabir's team reached Jotbazar at 1pm on the day, locals had already captured the antelope. Some received injuries while capturing it. “They were about to slaughter it,” he said.
By that time, a 17-member police team, led by OC Mozaffar Hossain of Manda Police Station, reached there. “The OC stopped them and took away their knives,” he said.
“But locals demanded Tk 5 crore from police and forest officials for handing it over,” he claimed.
The officials managed to rescue the antelope, following hours of negotiations. “We told locals that the prime minister might reward them for releasing it,” Kabir said.
Contacted, OC Mozaffar ruled out the possibility of the animal being smuggled into the country. “It entered the country after getting separated from its herd,” he said.
He said carrying the animal on a truck was difficult. Echoing him, Jahangir Kabir said, “We had to make several stops to make sure the animal was okay.”
He said Nilgais avoid humans as well as dogs and monkeys. Unless forced, the wild animal also stays away from human habitats.
Yesterday at the rescue centre, trained wildlife experts provided it with necessary treatment. “It would need time to recover,” said DFO Rahman.
After the male antelope has healed, they are planning to send it to Ramsagar National Park in Dinajpur, he said. “There is a female Nilgai at the park and we can arrange a breeding.”
The forest department rescued the female Nilgai from Thakurgaon in September last year.
Meanwhile, Rajshahi zoo authorities have begun lobbying for arranging the breeding at the zoo, said Dr Farhad Uddin, veterinary expert at the zoo.
Nilgais were found in the north of Bangladesh until 1940s when they were last sighted in Tetulia and afterwards were declared extinct from the country.
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