Injured Nilgai fawn rescued in Greater Noida

Noida: A Nilgai fawn was rescued on Monday morning by the divisional forest department and an animal welfare NGO in Greater Noida.

Noida: A Nilgai fawn was rescued on Monday morning by the divisional forest department and an animal welfare NGO in Greater Noida.

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The scared and distressed fawn, recognised as a six-month-old female, was likely hit by a speeding small vehicle in early morning hours, said officials. The rescue team from animal welfare NGO Smart Sanctuary and People for Animal (PFA) said that they received a call from locals near Omicron-3, Greater Noida after finding a wounded fawn squealing with pain at a service lane. Due to the Nilgai being classified as a wild animal, the NGO apprised the forest department, upon which officials reached the spot.

“We received distressed calls from some morning walkers and a few NGOs from Delhi about the injured fawn. A team rushed there along with forest officials and the fawn was taken to the veterinary hospital. The fawn was highly distressed and scared and only hours later it was stabilised and shifted to a facility of Smart Sanctuary in Greater Noida,” said Kaveri Rana, president, PFA, Gautam Budh Nagar and head, Smart Sanctuary.

According to officials, there is a good population of free ranging Nilgai or blue bull – an antelope species – in the district and it seemed that the fawn was separated from its herd.

“The fawn had received multiple flesh wounds and a bone injury in one of the forelegs. It is now out of danger and kept under the care of Smart Sanctuary. There are several herds of Nilgai that move around the green patches, urban forests and agriculture fields of the city. It seems that this fawn was lost and later hit by a smaller vehicle; had it been a heavy vehicle the fawn would not have survived,” said Ram Avtar, range forest officer and head, Surajpur Wetland.

According to the forest department’s 2019 census, there are a total of 1,094 Nilgais in Noida while in 2011, their numbers were 1,939. The largest antelopes in Asia, the Nilgais are protected under Schedule-3 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

“Once recovered, we have decided to rehabilitate the fawn in Surajpur wetland,” said Rana.