Animal had wandered well into Baffin Bay
Justin Cooper had seen a young nilgai along the Kenedy Ranch shoreline on the south side of Baffin Bay while fishing and checking the floating cabins his company, Laguna Adventures, owns.
A few hours later, he and his friend, Louie, noticed the animal — way out in the water.
“We drove by and it didn’t even phase him,” Cooper said.
“His head was out of the water.”
After a short discussion, they decided to try to rope the young nilgai bull.
“We roped him and tried idling back in,” Cooper said. “We got to where it was belly deep for him, but he got out of the rope.”
Once freed from the noose, the nilgai didn’t move an inch.
“We tried to splash water toward him, but that didn’t work,” Cooper said. “Then we got out and walked him to the beach. He didn’t bolt, it was just like walking a dog.”
Cooper guessed the nilgai was 4-5 months old.
“His head came up to your chest,” he said. “He had two little buttons on his skull.”
Cooper figured the animal lost his mother or was just lost.
“I’ve seen deer crossing before, but not nilgai,” he said. “Usually they are so skittish.”
Not this young bull, even after reaching shore, as the pair recorded on a video on Laguna Adventures’ Instagram page.
“Once we got him to shore, he trotted up on the grass,” Cooper said. “Then he left.”
