A successful serow rescue and release in Bangladesh

The phone buzzed early in the morning. Although groggy and yet to sip my first cup of coffee, I could still sense the enthusiasm and excitement from the speaker.

"We received a deer-like animal from Sunamganj. But I think it is a different species," Mirza Mehedhi Sorowar's energetic voice complimented my need for caffeine. "This is a serow," the wildlife and biodiversity conservation officer of Bangladesh Forest Department, continued, "I am sending you some photos shortly."

It was indeed a serow, a hoofed animal with an attachment to deep forests, steep cliffs, and coiling ravines. In Bangla, it goes by Bonchaggol (forest-goat). But the species is much more than that — ancient and mystical.

"Where did it come from? Sunamganj, a place touching the border of Meghalaya, has no place for it," I thought to myself, feeling an adrenaline rush and wide awake.

I immediately made the event a priority. I welcomed the fiery start of a cold Scotland day. It was 26 December. A flurry of phone calls and messages soon ensued.

What is a serow?

At first glance, they look like a muscular version of regular goats. Even researchers were puzzled for a long time decoding the true identity of serows. Genetics revealed that serows are the most ancient of all goat or sheep-like animals. Evolved around 11,000 to 15,000 years ago, serows are a hereditary linkage between goats and deer-like animals with unbranching, fixed horns we call antelopes.

Serows are thus nick-named goat-antelopes. They are stocky in build with powerful legs adapted for agile climbing. They have muscular necks, a pair of stout horns — that are a bit curved inward at the outer end — and a row of crest-like hairs along the back called guard hairs. At shoulder height, they can reach up to three to four feet.

For their strange appearance, serows, in Latin, are called Capricornis, a namesake to the constellation Capricorn. A 2019 paper published in the journal Mammal Review confirms four extant species — two living in South and Southeast Asia, one in Japan, and one in Taiwan.

In Bangladesh, serows live in the hill forests of Moulvibazar and Chattogram. There are recent photos of mothers and kids from the Rajkandi and the Hazarikhil-Bariyardhala ranges. We likely have both mainland species. But not many people know about their existence.

So, capturing a serow in a locality is not an everyday event. It was a red serow, among the rarest of all.

A human-wildlife negative interaction?

The rescued serow was by that time en route to Jankichara Wildlife Rescue Centre, Sreemangal. It was captured by the locals and the Border Guard Bangladesh personnel stationed in the Bishwamvarpur sub-district. But was it a retaliatory response? 
With extensive modification of wild habitats, wildlife is often forced to live in proximity to humans — resulting in negative interaction. It could be parrots and sparrows munching on crops, causing tangible costs. It could be tigers or leopards haunting villages near forests, denying human use of habitats — an opportunity cost. It could be a small mongoose living peacefully in the homesteads, but evoking fright when spotted and mistaken for something unknown and dangerous. It could also be illegal wildlife trafficking, risking spillover of zoonoses as in the case of Covid-19.

The mainland species are super-rare and super-wary creatures. Sighting one in its habitat is a story of a lifetime. More so, it is extremely unusual to find one in a district that is predominantly rich in wetlands and without any true forests. Perhaps, it wandered off from the neighbouring Meghalaya. The possibility of wildlife trafficking is not nil either. It could be an escapee.

Whatever the reason was, capturing it was okay in this case. Otherwise, it would soon be on someone's platter. Cases of unknown wildlife ending up as food is not uncommon in Bangladesh. I know a case where a sick vulture was captured, cooked, and eaten as an elixir.

The next step?

The problem with wild hooved-animals is that they are highly sensitive to human proximity. If handled rough and bridled tight, they simply prefer to die of exhaustion and stress. So, the options were limited.

One simple traditional choice is to release it in the Lawachara National Park where the rescue centre is located. This forest used to be rich, but its hay days are long gone. Now, surrounded by human habitats and disconnected from the forests of Tripura, India, it suffers highly from patch effects. In its current form, it is no habitat for serows.

At first glance, they look like a muscular version of regular goats. Even researchers were puzzled for a long time decoding the true identity of serows. Genetics revealed that serows are the most ancient of all goat or sheep-like animals. Evolved around 11,000 to 15,000 years ago, serows are a hereditary linkage between goats and deer-like animals with unbranching, fixed horns we call antelopes.

It could be taken to Sitakunda. But that is a long way from Moulvibazar. From Sunamganj, as we do not have any proper equipment to handle wildlife with care, it was brought to Jankichora on an uncovered van, roped in like a sacrificial animal.

But luckily the serow was healthy. It was showing strong resistance to its destituteness.

"It felt like a tank," everybody who handled it ascribed to its strength in a similar tone. It was at the same time worrisome. Its relentlessness to get free was wearing it off slowly. It was bashing against the wall. In Jankichora, the open space is at risk of losing the serow. It was kept in a walled enclosure. We needed to act fast.

In 2020 and 2021, two serow calves were rescued from Bandarban. Stressed out by mishandling, one of them later died in Dulahazara Safari Park, Cox's Bazar. The fate of the other is unknown.

The only wise option was to release it in an ideal habitat. There are two forests, the Rajkandi and the Atora, which are within a 100 km radius of Jankichara and have breeding populations of serow. These forests are deeply connected to the Tripura forests.

Serow breeding is not easy

Are we apt enough to breed serow? The straight answer is no. Serow keeping is difficult. There is no serow in any European zoos. Although Japanese serows are widely kept in zoos, the mainland cousins are yet to be properly understood. American and Southeast Asian zoos have experienced limited success in keeping the blackish and larger Sumatran serows.

Coupled with their complicated biology, another big challenge is to keep the gene flow fluid. Due to the rarity of specimens, the inbreeding rate is high. Serows in American zoos are suffering from this issue. In 2020, the Assam Zoo and the Nagaland Zoo exchanged male and female serows — all rescued specimens. A kid was a result of part of the breeding loan arrangement.

The Telegraph India reported it as the first ex-situ breeding record in India. Then, again, kid mortality is high. The book 'The Biology and Management of Capricorn and Related Mountain Antelopes' gives a very detailed account of serow-keeping techniques. It detailed a breeding program in Thailand; also highlighting that only one out of all six kids born there reached maturity.

A successful release

So, finally, the serow was released in Rajkandi, within 24 hours and at night — the perfect time to do stress-free release of a sensitive animal and to evade poachers' eye. It was no easy feat. Serows are heavy and can weigh up to 160 kg. There was no proper equipment. People involved had to carry the specimen on a makeshift stretcher made of bamboo and tarp, and trek about two kilometres inside the forest, at night to make a proper release.

I salute the prudent team of Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation Division Moulvibazar, Bangladesh Forest Department, and the citizen scientists working under the banner Stand for Our Endangered Wildlife who pulled this Herculean task off with success against all odds. Thanks are also due to Creative Conservation Alliance who contributed to caring for the serow and everyone else who opined for this release.

In decades, this is one of the very few successful releases of hill-dwelling animals in Bangladesh, if not only. This way, Rajkandi and Atora, and other serow habitats also received some conservation spotlights. These forests, by tradition, stay out of the limelight and get limited to zero prioritisation. In the late 2000s, we renamed some protected areas near the Hill Tracts. But there have been no new protected areas defined under the international standards. This case will contribute to influencing wiser decisions.
I saw the clip recorded during the release. The serow stood up, sniffed the surroundings, and was a little bit confused. Soon, it turned around, walked through a stream, and paced up — a testament to its strength. It casually approached a hill driven by its ancestral connection, and finally disappeared into darkness.