Can Nilgais walk through Bangladesh’s forests again?
The process of reintroducing Nilgais in nature is still in its infancy. However, the possibility exists, if dealt with appropriate care. But the question is: do we have a natural forest suitable for Nilgais anymore?
There were a dozen gayals. Some were lying down and some were chewing on the cud. There were 14 of them, to be exact, in this part of the safari park. And we discovered an imposter among them — a large male Nilgai, sleeping just over the edge in the bush alongside the indolent gayal herd.
This section of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Safari Park in Gazipur, after all, is called Harin [deer] Safari. So if you catch the extended Bovidae families sleeping together, all you can do is stare at the sleeping beauty, as long as your presence does not startle them out of their slumber.
That is exactly what happened, because the Nilgai was too alert to miss the noise in its vicinity. Our presence woke it up and it walked away.
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We had Anisur Rahman with us, a wildlife supervisor at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Safari Park, Gazipur. There were six Sambar Deer, over a 100 Spotted Deer, and some Indian Muntjac in this part of the safari, he said.
Along with them were nine Nilgais.
Notably, Bangladesh was once home to Nilgais before they went extinct. According to some conservators, Nilgais were spotted in Bangladesh as late as in the 1970s along the Madhupur Tracts — a forest in shambles, as it lost 98% of its area.
However, a ray of hope was kindled on 4 September 2018, when a Nilgai, reportedly female, was rescued from the banks of the Kulik River in Thakurgaon. The following year on 22 January, another Nilgai, reportedly male, was rescued from Naogaon.
They were both kept in Dinajpur's Ramsagar National Park before being transported to the safari park in Gazipur. First, the female was transported and then the male followed in 2020.
The first batch of Nilgai cubs were born on 1 August 2021. Ever since, the pair gave birth to five Nilgais in three batches. And two more Nilgais — one male and one female — were brought to the safari park in the last one year, which further increased the population.
"We brought four Nilgais rescued over the years. And we got five others by breeding here. Both the cubs in the first breed were male, the second breed had one cub — which also was a male. And the latest breed had two cubs but their gender has not yet been identified," said Anisur.
The first-born cubs, Anisur said, are adult enough to mate, but until the latest young adult female was rescued, they only had the mother Nilgai. As a result, the addition of the new female raises hope for further increase in the Nilgai population in the park.
We were standing on the street along the edge of Harin Safari. Staring at gayals - the gentle giants - we asked Anisur if it would be safe to explore deeper into the section. He said that safety was not an issue, but the antelopes would soon come near us as safari officials were preparing their morning feeds.
"If you want to have a proper look at them, make sure they don't see you. Be in camouflage with the jungle so they come and eat without worrying about your presence. Otherwise, they will run away," he said.
Bangladesh was once home to Nilgais before they went extinct. According to some conservators, the animals were spotted in Bangladesh as late as in the '70s along the Madhupur Tracts — a decimated forest that lost 98% of its area. However, a ray of hope was kindled on 4 September 2018, when a Nilgai, reportedly female, was rescued from the banks of the Kulik River in Thakurgaon. The following year on 22 January, another Nilgai, reportedly male, was rescued from Naogaon.
But if the Spotted Deer were too alert to be near, we found the Nilgai even more alert. Although the safari staff served food and called them using their familiar call, Nilgai would only proceed one by one from far with maximum caution.
"The Nilgais can be tricky to be near," said Mamunur Rashid, a junior wildlife scout at the safari park. He asked us to be very cautious and motionless in a particular spot with our cameras — which is what we had been trying but didn't quite work.
The area is big. In between lean grazing fields, there are several forested areas on a bit higher ground. Mamun went deeper into the forest to push the animals towards us so we could have a better look and take some photos.
Imran Ahmed, a conservator of forests at the Forest Department, later told The Business Standard that the uptick in Nilgai population and some successful breeding give them hope about returning the extinct Nilgai back to Bangladesh.
"This is positive and we are optimistic," Imran said. "You need a spacious area to make breeding happen. Nilgais do not like people around them as they are very shy. When they find a safer environment, they get to breed. We have kept them in our observation to see if we can continue its successful breeding. We are monitoring their growth."
Can Nilgais be reintroduced in nature?
Simply put, the process is not yet close to that stage. But the possibility is there if dealt with appropriate care.
If the breeding continues with success, Imran said, the Forest Department will engage with their scientists to have their opinions about releasing them in nature, or continue breeding more in controlled locations.
But do we have a natural forest suitable for Nilgais in Bangladesh anymore?
"Exactly, we have forests but most terrestrial forests are endangered by humans. We will have to take all these factors into consideration," Imran replied.
Monirul H Khan, a wildlife biologist and a professor of zoology at Jahangirnagar University, said that in most cases, the Nilgais that enter Bangladesh from India are killed or fatally injured by humans.
However, he noted that it is appreciable that there have been efforts to rescue some of these animals before they get injured or killed by humans.
Secondly, there used to be Nilgais in this area back in the days, especially in the Shalban of North Bengal. The safari park environment falls within the belt of Shalban. This turned out to be suitable for them. And if maintenance is good, they will continue to breed here successfully.
"However, reintroduction is not an easy affair, it is a long process. It cannot be hurried. Because you need to have safe and secure space for re-introduction. We don't have such a safe space. If there was a safe habitat, there would be Nilgais. They went extinct from here because there is no safe habitat. If you release them, they won't survive," he said.
"Ensure a secure habitat, then make it safe. You have to see what competitors of Nilgais are there. You have to acclimate them to their new habitat in a confined area, make them used to it with the natural food of the area," Monirul said.
"If we can have such space for habitat, we may think of reintroducing Nilgai in nature in the future. It is a long-term process, but it is possible. For now, the task is to keep them in safari parks and increase their numbers," he added.
Forest Department's Imran Ahmed also seconded him on the policy of proceeding with caution.
"Sundarbans, for example, is a secure habitat for antelopes. Now this is also an antelope, but we have to question if releasing them there would make them vulnerable. We have to wait and look at their growth rate, how fast they breed, their adaptation with the environment etc.
"So, our plan is to keep them in the safari park for the time being. We have another large safari park in Chattogram. There are larger grazing lands there. We may have some Nilgais there as well in future. And if we have a lot more Nilgais afterwards, we will plan for the next stage," he added.
