Bangladesh is one of the world’s most crowded countries, with a density of 3,441 people per square mile — much denser than U.S. cities like Charlotte, Jacksonville, Kansas City and Oklahoma City. Yet, species once declared extinct there due to habitat loss are making a comeback. That includes Nilgais, the largest antelope species in Asia. The animals are reappearing in northwestern Bangladesh, a country that was part of their historical range but where they were declared locally extinct in the 1930s due to habitat loss and hunting, reports Mongabay:
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….In a 2023 study, researchers in Bangladesh scoured media reports to identify 13 instances of nilgais entering the country’s northwest — mostly from India but also from Nepal — between 2018 and 2022. Historically, northwestern Bangladesh and the neighboring Indian state of West Bengal formed the easternmost range of the species…The animals once abounded in the sal forests and floodplains of what are today the districts of Dinajpur and Rangpur, both bounded by … two great rivers.
But it was the loss of these habitats, coupled with unchecked hunting, that drove the nilgais locally extinct, said Sarwar Alam, principal wildlife investigator with the Bangladesh office of the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. Now, however, their forays back into their historical habitats indicate that Bangladesh has room to once again host nilgais within its borders. The authors of the recent study suggest that local authorities should start thinking of reintroducing the species, which they describe as being easy to take care of, in the northwestern and central wet deciduous patches of the country.
Florida’s manatee population has rebounded. Sea turtles are multiplying in Florida, with sea turtle nests tripling.
Fish species are rebounding off the coast of California due to their young finding a sanctuary in abandoned oil rigs.
Scientists recently discovered that the world’s coral reefs are more plentiful than previously thought.
A baby beaver was recently born in London, the first beaver birth there in 400 years. Recently, carnivorous plants were reintroduced to English wetlands.
A dog recently discovered a species of mole long thought to be extinct, De Winton’s golden mole.
A mutant tomato could save harvests around the world. Farmers have found they can increase crop yields by using electrical stimulation on their crops.
Scientists recently developed genetically-modified bananas to keep the principal variety of banana from being wiped out by a dangerous blight. They also engineered bionic silkworms that spin fibers six times stronger than Kevlar.
