Blackbuck

For other uses, see Blackbuck (disambiguation).

Blackbuck
A blackbuck at the Blackbuck National Park in Gujarat, India.
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Bovidae
Genus:	Antilope
Species:	A. cervicapra
Binomial name
Antilope cervicapra (Linnaeus, 1758)
Subspecies
A. c. cervicapra A. c. rajputanae

Blackbuck male and subadult mock fighting in Tal Chappar

Blackbuck about to take off in Tal Chappar

Blackbuck landing in Tal Chappar

The blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) is an ungulate species of antelope native to the Indian subcontinent that has been listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List since 2003, as its range has decreased sharply during the 20th century. The native population is stable, with an estimated 50,000 individuals as of 2001.

The blackbuck is the only living species of the genus Antilope. Its generic name stems from the Latin word antalopus, a horned animal. The specific name cervicapra is composed of the Latin words capra, she-goat and cervus, deer.

Characteristics

Male and female blackbucks

Blackbucks generally resemble gazelles found on the Arabian peninsula. Blackbucks are slender with a head-to-body length of about 120 cm (47 in). They are about 73.7 to 83.8 cm (29.0 to 33.0 in) high at the shoulder. Males are larger than females. Adult males range in weight from 34 to 45 kg (75 to 99 lb); females weigh 31 to 39 kg (68 to 86 lb). Their tail is short and compressed. Both sexes are white around the eyes, on the belly, and on the inside of the legs. They differ in the coloration of the head and back. Female and young blackbucks are yellowish-fawn coloured on the back and on the outside of the limbs; the lower parts are white. The two colours are sharply divided by a distinct pale lateral band. Old bucks are blackish brown on the back, the sides, and the front of the neck. They become almost black with age; only the nape remains brownish rufous, and the pale lateral band disappears. Only males have horns that are diverging, cylindrical, spiral, and ringed throughout. The rings are closer together near the skull. The turns of the spiral vary from less than three to five.

Distribution and habitat

Antelope jumping in Hyderabad

In the 19th century, blackbucks ranged in open plains from the base of the Himalayas to the area of Cape Comorin, and from the Punjab to Lower Assam. They were abundant in the North-Western Provinces, Rajputana, parts of the Deccan, and on the plains near the coast of Orissa and Lower Bengal. Herds occasionally comprised several thousand animals of both sexes and all ages.

Today, the blackbuck population is confined to areas in Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka, with a few small pockets in central India. They occur in several protected areas of India including:

• Velavadar National Park is home to a large population estimated at 1500 individuals in the mid-1990s.
• Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary
• Tal Chhapar Sanctuary
• National Chambal Sanctuary
• Keoladeo National Park
• Ranebennur Wildlife Sanctuary
• Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary
• Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary
• Gir Forest National Park
• Guindy National Park
• Ranthambhore National Park
• Dhawa Doli Wildlife Sanctuary, Jodhpur
• Sorsan Blackbuck Conservation Reserve, Baran, Rajasthan
• Shergarh Sanctuary, Baran, Rajasthan
• Vallanadu Blackbuck Sanctuary, Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu

In Nepal, the last surviving population of blackbucks is found in the Blackbuck Conservation Area south of the Bardia National Park. In 2008, the population was estimated at 184.

In Pakistan, blackbucks are irregular vagrants, moving along the border areas with India. They are kept in enclosures in the Lal Suhanra National Park for possible reintroduction. They are considered extirpated in Bangladesh.

Two subspecies are recognized:

• A. c. cervicapra (nominate subspecies)
• A. c. rajputanae

Blackbucks were introduced to Argentina and the USA. These populations numbered about 43,600 individuals at the turn of the century.

Ecology and behaviour

Blackbuck fleeing at Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary, Tamil Nadu, India

Blackbucks generally live on open plains and open woodlands in herds of five to 50 animals with one dominant male. They are very fast. Speeds of more than 80 km/h (50 mph) have been recorded.

They are primarily grazers and avoid forested areas. They require water every day and may move long distances in search of water and forage in summer. Usually, they feed during the day. Their diet consists mostly of grasses, but they have occasionally been observed browsing on acacia trees in the Cholistan Desert. In the Velavadar National Park, they were observed feeding on pods of Prosopis juliflora during seasonal lows in forage quality.

Their chief predator was the Asiatic cheetah, now extinct in India. Currently, wolves are the main predators of both fawns and adults. Fawns are also hunted by jackals. Village dogs are reported to kill fawns, but are unlikely to successfully hunt and kill adults.

The maximum lifespan recorded is 16 years and the average is 12 years.

Threats

Royalty hunting blackbuck with Asiatic cheetah in South Gujarat, 1812

During the last century, blackbuck range and numbers have declined sharply due to excessive hunting. Increasing numbers of livestock and humans destroy blackbuck habitat. Some blackbucks are killed illegally especially where they co-occur with nilgai.

Blackbucks are hunted for their flesh and skin. Occasional incidents of poaching still occur. The remaining populations are under threat from inbreeding. The natural habitat of the blackbuck is being encroached upon by local people who need arable land and grazing ground for their livestock. Exposure to livestock also exposes them to bovine diseases.

Its protected status has gained publicity through a widely reported court case, in which one of India's leading film stars, Salman Khan, was sentenced to five years imprisonment for killing two blackbucks and several endangered chinkaras, in a protected area. The court case was prompted by intense protests from the Bishnoi ethnic group, which holds animals and trees sacred, and on whose land the hunting had taken place.

In another poaching incident, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi also killed a blackbuck, and then absconded as a fugitive. He finally surrendered only when the case was transferred from the criminal court to a special environment court, where he would face lighter sentencing.

Threats in the past

Until the late 19th century, large herds still roamed on the open plains of North India. William Thomas Blanford knew of herds comprising several thousand individuals, but more often herds numbered 10–50 blackbucks. Until India's independence in 1947, blackbucks and chinkaras were hunted in many princely states with specially trained captive Asiatic cheetahs. Today, only small herds are seen, largely inside reserves. Farmers of the expanding areas of cultivation considered blackbucks as crop-raiders, and further contributed to their decline. In the 1970s, blackbucks were extinct in several areas.

Conservation

Male and female in Hyderabad, India

Blackbucks in Balaghat Lane KGF

In India, hunting of blackbucks is prohibited under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. Blackbucks can be seen in zoos.

Blackbucks are protected in

• Bardia National Park, Nepal
• Abohar Wildlife Sanctuary, Punjab
• Bagdara Wildlife Sanctuary, Madhya Pradesh
• Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Tamil Nadu
• Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary, Gujarat
• Kanha National Park, Madhya Pradesh
• Kirthar National Park, Pakistan (kept in enclosures for possible reintroduction)
• Jayamangali Blackbuck Reserve, Karnataka
• Mahavir Harina Vanasthali National Park, Telangana
• Rehakuri Sanctuary, Maharashtra
• Dhawa Doli Wildlife Sanctuary, Jodhpur
• Sathyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary, Tamil Nadu
• Vallanad Blackbuck Sanctuary, Tamil Nadu

They are also found in open areas near Dindori, Madhya Pradesh, at Karopani Black Buck Conservation Area, which is located about 15 km from Dindori and also near Koppal in Koppal District about 15 km from its headquarters. In Balaghat Lane, Kolar Gold Field blackbucks are found in unprotected area.

In Pakistan, the breeding success achieved at Lal Suhanra NP is 413 animals where as from Khar time to time number of blackbucks provided to the eminent conservationists for further propagation in their private reserve. At present about 500 animals are surviving in Mir of Khairpurs Mehrano reserve, 110 at Khangur, Ghotki and 70 at New Jatoi, Nawab Shah. However at Khar Center only 35 animals remain. Additionally, some are kept in different zoos, wildlife centres and in possession of individuals. At present about 1500 blackbucks are reared in captivity in Punjab and Sindh regions of Pakistan. They will be released in the wild in the near future.

In culture

Blackbucks as part of the heraldry of a princely state of India. Samthar State coat of arms.

The blackbuck is known by various names, such as pulvaai, thirugumaan, velimaan, kadamaan, iralai, karinchikedai and murugumaan in Tamil. It is also known as Krishna mruga in Kannada and as Krishna jinka in Telugu, it has been declared as the state animal of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Other local names for the species include Krishnasar in Bengali, Kala Hiran, Sasin, Iralai Maan, and Kalveet in Marathi.

In the Yājñavalkya Smṛti, Mahararishi Sri Yagyavalkya is quoted as having explained, "In what country there is black antelope, in that Dharma must be known."

The skin of Krishna Mrugam plays an important role in Hinduism, and Brahmin boys are traditionally required to wear a strip of unleathered hide after performing Upanayanam. According to the Hindu mythology, blackbuck or Krishna Jinka is considered as the vehicle (vahana) of the Moon-god Chandrama. According to the Garuda Purana of Hindu mythology, Krishna Jinka bestows prosperity in the areas where they live.

Blackbucks were often a heraldic element in the official symbols of certain ancient princely states of India such as Samthar, Barwani, Jaisalmer, Malerkotla, Faridkot, Palanpur, Jaora, Radhanpur, Morvi and Nawanagar, among others.

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  Babur kills blackbuck in a hunting circle.

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  Painting of Akbar hunting blackbucks with trained Asiatic cheetahs in Akbarnama.

External links

• Ultimate Ungulate: Antilope cervicapra
• BBC Nature: Blackbuck
• Ratish Naroor Photography: Images of Blackbuck