The nilgai, rescued from Bagatipara in Natore, has been kept at the Safari Park in Gazipur. The animal was kept in quarantine in a separate enclosure on Sunday (February 9). After a specified time, it will be released into the deer enclosure of the park's core safari.
Locals rescued the blueberry from a guava orchard in Sheikhpara, Bagatipara upazila of Natore around 2 pm on Saturday.
On January 15, a nilgai crossed the boundary wall of the safari park and entered the locality. No trace of it has been found.
Safari park officials said the rescued nilgai was a male. It was injured and weak when it was brought to the park. It is believed that the animal was injured for some reason before it was rescued.
Safari Park Officer-in-Charge and Assistant Conservator of Forests Rafiqul Islam said the Wildlife and Nature Conservation Department handed over the animal to the park on Sunday afternoon.
He also said that the nilgai is a rare and endangered species of wildlife. Although it is known as a cow, it is not a cow at all, but rather the largest deer in the Asian continent. Its scientific name is Boselaphus tragocamellus. A hundred years ago, the nilgai was seen in various areas of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Around 1940, a nilgai was seen once in Panchagarh. After that, the nilgai was not seen anywhere else in Bangladesh.
He said that the nilgai was included in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as an extinct species in Bangladesh long ago.
Safari park officials said that the number of nilgai, including this new addition to the safari park, is 11.
