The animal, weighing about 1.5 tons, hid in bushes about 500 meters from the airport after ramming a local 85-year-old woman, Nguyen Thi Thi, in Thuy Luong Ward, Huong Thuy Town on the afternoon of July 23.
The woman was found dead in a pool of blood in a yard near her home at 1:30 pm. The victim suffered from injuries to her face, and many footprints of an ox were found on the scene.
Thi’s relatives said the woman was rammed by the animal when she was walking home from another house.
After attacking the woman the animal ran into Thuy Tan Commune and attacked some other locals, but they were able to escape. The animal later ran towards the airport and hid in the bushes nearby.
Local authorities mobilized about 60 policemen, forestry rangers and soldiers to block all the entrances to the airport. A task force was also set up inside the airport to protect the safety of arriving and departing flights.
The airport authorities cancelled all flights on July 24, until 6pm of the same day. Twelve flights of Vietnam Airlines from Hue to Hanoi and HCM City were cancelled, affecting nearly 1,800 passengers.
Wildlife experts from Ho Chi Minh City arrived in the morning of July 24 to help search for and capture the animal by giving it an anesthetic shot. The animal was captured at 4.30pm of July 24.
The airport’s authorities said that the animal would be handed over to the Saigon Zoo.
The animal was craned onto a truck and then transported to an elephant breeding farm in Thuy Bang Commune, Huong Thuy Town for care, but it died at 7:30 pm.
The gayal is a of rare and endangered species listed in the Vietnam Red Book. This is also the most sought-after gayal species in the world. In Vietnam, the animal’s population is now only 300, and they are mainly seen in national parks such as those in Lao Cai, Kon Tum and Lam Dong provinces. The gayal is seriously endangered due to illegal deforestation and poaching
Concerned agencies have performed an autopsy on the animal to identify the cause of the death and will make it known to the media today, an official said.
Experts said that it is strange when a wild ox appeared at the airport, which is very far from the jungle. Moreover, no wild ox had been seen in Thua Thien-Hue’s forest until this ox appeared.
Some experts said the animal might have entered Vietnam after getting lost in a forest in Laos, since studies shows that the forest area in the province has no gayals.
Meanwhile Hoang Ngoc Khanh, chief of the provincial People’s Committee Secretariat, told Lao Dong Newspaper that the gayal was the second that has been discovered in the province in the last 27 years.
Compiled by Na Son