Another nilgai (antelope) has been found and rescued near the Bangladesh-India border in Patnitala upazila of Naogaon.
Some local people at Haat Shaoli Kalupara village in Patnitala’s Nirmal union spotted the animal roaming around inside a mango orchard near the border on Monday morning, a villager named Suman told the Dhaka Tribune.
The locals then caught the animal, a male, and informed the Nirmal union parishad (UP) chairman, who later went to the spot and collected it, Suman added.
Also Read - Endangered ‘Nilgai’ found in Thakurgaon
This is the second nilgai to be rescued in Naogaon in nearly two and a half months. On January 22, locals at Nurullahbad union in the district’s Manda upazila rescued a nilgai and handed it over to a wildlife care centre in Rajshahi.
Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, Nirmal UP Chairman Abul Kalam Azad said: “After the villagers informed me about the nilgai, I went to the spot around 9am. A team of the 14 Battalion of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), stationed at Patnitala border area, came to take the nilgai. But I told them that since the animal has been rescued in my area, it was my responsibility. I told them they could take the nilgai away once the matter was resolved with the higher authorities.”
Azad said he informed the Patnitala upazila nirbahi officer, who informed the Forest Department office in Rajshahi.
Also Read - How Bangladesh is bringing back Nilgais from extinction
“The forest office called me around 12:30pm and told me to keep the nilgai in my custody, and they would fetch it later.”
Nilgai is a type of antelope that is native to the Indian Subcontinent. It is the largest antelope species found in the region.
Largely seen in the northern districts of Bangladesh a few decades ago, the nilgai is currently listed as an endangered animal.
