Around 7 p.m. on April 2nd, in Songpan County, Aba Prefecture, Sichuan Province, a serow—a nationally protected Class II species—unexpectedly wandered into a supermarket and began casually strolling around. With the help of local residents, the animal was eventually guided out safely and returned to the nearby forest.

Supermarket owner Tong Jiarui recalled that she was restocking goods when she suddenly noticed an animal with a black tuft of hair on its head slowly walking into the store. “At first, I thought it was a stray dog, but on closer look, I realized it was a serow!” she said. The animal, nearly one meter in length, had a brownish-gray coat and a striking upright black mane on its forehead, giving it a unique “hairstyle.” It wandered between shelves, occasionally sniffing at items or pausing to look around, but showed no signs of aggression.

Upon spotting the serow, Tong quickly contacted nearby residents and closed the store’s entrances to evacuate customers. With gentle guidance and hushed voices, the serow slowly made its way toward the exit. Finally, residents were able to carefully capture the animal and safely release it into the surrounding mountains.

“The whole process was very cautious—we made sure the serow wasn’t harmed,” said Mr. Wang, one of the residents involved in the rescue.

The serow is typically found in mountainous forests at elevations between 1,000 and 4,000 meters. Naturally wary, it rarely ventures into human settlements, making this supermarket visit an unusual event. However, thanks to increased ecological protection efforts in recent years, Songpan’s natural environment has steadily improved, leading to more frequent sightings of wildlife. This rare supermarket encounter serves as a vivid sign of ecological recovery and growing public awareness of wildlife conservation.