A large adult wild Nilgai antelope bull was rescued from the residential area of Netaji Nagar by Wildlife SOS and translocated to the Asola wildlife sanctuary on January 3, 2014.
The rescue operation lasted several hours as the Nilgai was wandering in the residential E Block of Netaji Nagar.
A resident of the colony called up the Wildlife SOS helpline to notify us of the information that a Nilgai had been roaming around in their colony. Rajbir Singh, rescue coordinator with Wildlife SOS, rished to the spot the same afternoon. The operation began at around 2pm. The team from WTI also came a little later and participated in the rescue operation.
The Nilgai was eventually rescued around 5.30pm and transported in the Wildlife SOS Animal Ambulance to the Asola wildlife sanctuary. He was then released safely in the presence of the Wildife SOS and WTI teams around 7pm.
The large antelope weighing around 300 kg may h ave strayed out of its natural habitat and got confused by the roads and traffic. The residents of the colony had been feeding the Nilgai too, which could be harmful for the animal’s health.
Geeta Seshamani, co-founder of Wildlife SOS said, “The rapidly increasing human-wildlife conflict situation arent from this particular incident. The Nilgai strayed from its natural habitat and lost his way. We are glad that the animal is safe and back in the wild. But such conflict situations require humans to be more tolerant. Wildlife SOS has been receiving several calls for Nilgai who have strayed on the roads in the middle of heavy traffic off late. Habitat destruction and habitat loss is the root cause of these problems.”
Rajbir Singh, rescue coordinator at Wildlife SOS, says, “It was a long operation that took several hours. But it was rewarding in the end when we released the animal safely into its natural habitat in the Asola wildlife sanctuary.”
Wildlife SOS runs a wildlife helpline to address such issues- +91-9871963535
