The Nilgai Antelope Recovering From Near Extinction In Bangladesh

Ziryan Aziz
Sep 15
3 min read

The Nilgai, Asia’s largest antelope, once thought extinct in Bangladesh, is making a surprising return through cross-border sightings and is sparking hopes for reintroduction, as written by Ziryan Aziz.

Photo by: Clicker Babu

A not-for-profit paper, advocating for those topics that matter. Subscribe from £1.16 today.

The once flourishing Nilgai have been listed as extinct in Bangladesh since the 1930s. Today, the species primarily feed in the wet grasslands of Northwest India, Nepal and Pakistan with population numbers exploding.

Over the last 10 years in India alone, population estimates are said to have risen by 117%, with a sizeable population of Nilgai in the United States and Mexico.

In Bangladesh, a steady increase of sightings has the government excited at the prospect of reintroducing the species permanently, even with the challenges and threats posed to maintaining the antelope's numbers.

A 2023 study reported 13 known sightings of Nilgai crossing the border from India into Bangladesh between 2017-2022. Half of those crossings have been sighted in the rural Thakurgaon district in the Northwest of the country, where the human population density is almost half that of the national average.

Did you know? Without conservation action, it is estimated that trends in species extinction risk would have been at least 20% worse. - IUCN Nature 2030 Programme

Perilous Journeys

Unfortunately, transit isn't easy for the Nilgai. In January 2024 one antelope made the crossing into Ranisankail subdistrict, but was swiftly chased and slaughtered by villagers for its meat.

Authorities believe that there are likely many more on the move each year, however it is suspected that they are caught by local villagers without any report of their movements being made.

While border guards have been rescuing migrating Nilgai, in coordination with the government's Forest Department—where they are taken into captivity—there are still many occurrences of this gracious animal being hunted. Two incidents have been reported of Nilgai dying from cardiac arrest as well as two deaths in 2020 and 2021 caused by injuries sustained while being chased.

According to the Bangladesh office of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a loss of natural habitat in Bangladesh coupled with unchecked hunting is to blame for the Nilgai extinction.

Reintroduction efforts

So far, the government has not launched any formal plans to reintroduce Nilgai into the wild, and rescued antelopes are only being kept within Safari parks as part of a protected rescue effort.

There have been successful endeavours to breed the animals within the parks, such as in 2021, however for the Forestry Department to successfully reintroduce the antelope in Bangladesh there will need to be an education program in place for local villagers. Currently there is only a rudimentary policy advising villagers not to kill the antelopes when visiting communities.

This approach was successful in reintroducing Elongated Tortoises and Asian Giant Tortoises in the North and Southeastern provinces back in December 2024, where the Mro tribal communities were engaged in habitat protection and monitoring.

Another challenge is finding suitable areas for animal resettlement as Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. However, the Northwest of the country which has large swaths of wild, unsettled land is a promising option.

"... in Kent, Southern England, wild European bison have been reintroduced for the first time in thousands of years to help manage woodlands."

Reversing the biodiversity decline

The global decline of biodiversity is a major concern for governments and organisations involved in agriculture and conservation. Currently, species extinctions are 10 to 100 times higher than the natural baseline.

According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), globally more than £34 trillion of economic value generation is moderately or highly dependent on nature. In 2019, IPBES reported a 23% decrease in productivity of Earth’s terrestrial areas, and approximately £430 billion of annual crop output is at risk due to pollinator loss.

The loss of biodiversity due to human activity is also a national crisis for many countries, sparking initiatives to reintroduce historically present animals back into the landscape.

In Kent, Southern England, wild European bison have been reintroduced for the first time in thousands of years to help manage woodlands. In Portugal, Bulgaria and Croatia, vultures are being reintroduced after near-extinction. China is breeding wild horses and India is reintroducing wild cheetahs which is expected to help stem biodiversity loss.

Rewilding the land and reintroducing lost species is a source of national pride for some countries. This will be challenged by the human population increasing by a predicted 2 billion by the 2080s, coupled with the demands on the untouched lands which provide a habitat for endangered species.