Footage from the scene showed people arriving as the buffalo was being led away with ropes and loaded onto a pickup truck before most visitors reached the area.

Owner Moniruzzaman said officials instructed him to hand over the animal.

“We have been told that the price of the buffalo will be paid, or an animal of the same value will be given for sacrifice. We brought the buffalo from the farm in Narayanganj three days ago,” he explained.

Some visitors said they managed to briefly see the animal, while others expressed disappointment after missing it.

The buffalo had earlier gained attention across Bangladesh because of its pale tuft of hair, which social media users compared to the hairstyle of US President Donald Trump .

Videos and photographs of the 700-kilogramme animal spread widely online, attracting dozens of visitors daily. The buffalo was described as a “rare species”.

Originally owned by Zia Uddin Mridha in Narayanganj, the buffalo had recently been sold to Moniruzzaman ahead of Eid al-Adha, when Muslims perform Qurbani, the ritual animal sacrifice observed on the 10th of Dhul Hijjah.