<
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/comeback-on-the-cards-for-asian-antelope-declared-extinct-in-bangladesh/>
"DHAKA — On Jan. 7, 2024, in a rural area of northwestern Bangladesh, a nilgai,
the largest species of Asian antelope, crossed the border from India.
It never crossed back.
When villagers in Ranisankail subdistrict, Thakurgaon district, found out about
the nilgai, also known as the blue bull, “they chased the animal and caught
it,” villager Raihan Alam Chowdhury told Mongabay.
“When the news spread, excited villagers flocked to the site and slaughtered
the blue bull. Later, the villagers shared the meat of the animal and consumed
it,” he added.
Several weeks earlier, another nilgai narrowly escaped a similar fate. It, too,
had meandered over from the Indian side of the border, on Nov. 23, 2023.
Fortunately for this individual, though, it was spotted by Bangladesh border
guards, who caught it with the help of locals.
“Later, the nilgai was handed over to the Forest Department,” said Nur
Mohammad, a resident of Baliadangi, also in Thakurgaon district.
The presence of the two nilgais in Bangladesh paints a hopeful picture for the
species
Boselaphus tragocamelus, despite their mixed fates. The nilgai isn’t
considered threatened on the IUCN Red List, given its abundant populations in
India, Nepal and Pakistan (and introduced populations in the U.S. and Mexico).
But in Bangladesh, the blue bull was declared extinct in the 1930s, nearly a
century ago."
Via
Fix the News:
<
https://fixthenews.com/good-news-malaria-india-tolerance-africa-deforestation-brazil/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
