The endangered wild goat, known locally as bon chhagol, has been seen in Baraiyadhala National Park. Special cameras set up by a research team for a wildlife census have found evidence of a number of wild goats in the area, and people living nearby say they now often see the animal on their way into and out of the forest.

Forest officials and wildlife researchers say some wild goats still survive in the Sylhet, Sangu and Matamuhuri areas of Bangladesh, but Baraiyadhala National Park remains somewhat richer both in suitable habitat and in the number of goats.

Forest officials said the national park was established on 6 April 2010 on 2,933.61 hectares of protected hill forest in Wahedpur and Khoiyachhara of Mirsharai and in Baraiyadhala union of Sitakunda upazila in Chattogram, because of its many birds, wild animals and varied plant life. To help conserve wildlife there, the Forest Department ran a two-year study under the SUFAL project, from October 2021 to May 2023, to learn the number and species of wild animals. Forty-eight special cameras were placed at different points in the forest, and at least 22 of them captured images of wild goats.

Two or three decades ago the animal was a common sight on the steep hills and rocky uplands of the country's east and south-east, but habitat loss and illegal hunting have pushed it towards extinction. The Forest Department's study centred on Baraiyadhala National Park, under the Chattogram North Forest Division, has now raised hope for its survival.

Md Shahjahan, who lives in East Polmogra in Khoiyachhara union of Mirsharai upazila, said: "I have been going into the forest to cut bamboo and wood for 20 years. Now I see wild goats in the hills from time to time. A few months ago I saw one with a kid."

Zahir Uddin, another woodcutter from the Baratakia railway station area, told Jago News that wild goats are now seen in the area more often than before.

Md Sarwar Uddin, president of the park's co-management executive committee, told Jago News that there was a time when he could not convince forest officials there were wild goats in the area. "But local people kept saying they saw wild goats in the hills at Baratakia in Mirsharai. This time they have been caught on the research cameras."

He said deer, pythons, jungle fowl, wild goats, monkeys and other vanishing species roam the area. Monkeys, pythons and deer often come into villages looking for food, and some hunters come at night and take deer. "If we can stop this, a sanctuary for endangered species will grow up here."

A K M Altaf Hossain, range officer of the Baraiyadhala range of the Chattogram North Forest Division, told Jago News that the Wahedpur area of Mirsharai and the Baraiyadhala area of Sitakunda are a habitat rich in wildlife and birds, where various species of deer, wild boar, langur, monkey, bear, python and some other near-extinct animals have been found. A recent Forest Department study had confirmed the presence of wild goats, he said, adding: "From now on we will be more careful to protect these animals."

The study under the SUFAL project was led by Dr Md Karul Hasan, a professor in the zoology department of Jahangirnagar University.

He said the fieldwork was finished but the report had not yet been formally submitted to the Forest Department. "The 48 special cameras we set up recorded various endangered animals and an encouraging presence of wild goats. We are now sorting the images to work out the number of goats. Sadly, our cameras also caught images of illegal hunters carrying guns."

He said the rocky hill country of Mirsharai, Sitakunda and Hazarikhil in Fatikchhari can be called an ideal habitat for the wild goat, and with care the rare animal might return well to the wild.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.