Cattle farmers in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region have long been familiar with rearing Gayal. And recently many plainland farmers are also opting for breeding and rearing this wild cow variety.
They have already achieved remarkable success in breeding Gayal, a feral animal species which can be domesticated.
Its popularity has also increased in households and tea gardens in Moulvibazar in recent years as it contains more meat and the skin is of good quality.
Shyamal Kumar Mitra, assistant conservator of forests at the Wildlife and Nature Conservation Department in Moulvibazar, said the Gayal is a species of wild cattle, but it is not completely wild and slightly different from other cattle species.
The authorities are also encouraging the local farm owners to increase the number of Gayals. According to sources, there are six Gayals that are being reared at two farms in Moulvibazar which were brought in from Chittagong.
Dhaka TribuneA resident of Sonapur village, Delwar Hossain, is rearing two of those at his farm while the rest have been kept at a tea estate.
Officials of Moulvi Tea Garden told this correspondent that they brought in the Gayals out of curiosity three years ago. Now the Gayals are being reared at their farm and people gather around them when they are taken out of the farm for grazing, they added.
Factory In-charge of the garden Basu Deb said: “Nowhere in Sylhet you will see this animal. But in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, most households will have Gayals in their sheds.”
Dr Md Abdus Samad, the livestock officer of the district, stated that the Gayal is neither wild nor domesticated. They can live both in the forest and households. “We're are trying to determine the number of Gayals in the district,” he added.
