Blackbuck
Conservation status
Near Threatened
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Artiodactyla Family: Bovidae Subfamily: Antilopinae Genus: Antilope Pallas, 1766 Species: A. cervicapra
Binomial name
Antilope cervicapra (Linnaeus, 1758)

Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) is a species of antelope found mainly in India, but also in parts of Pakistan and Nepal. There are also introduced populations in various parts of the world including numerous ranches in Texas in the United States of America; free-ranging populations also exist in Argentina (pampas in southern Buenos Aires, Santa Fe and Entre Ríos provinces).

Local names for the species include Kala hiran, Sasin, Iralai Maan and Krishna Jinka

Description

The horns of the Blackbuck are ringed with 3 to 4 turns and can be as long as 28 inches. The Adult males can grow as tall as 32 inches and can weigh as much as 95 pounds. In the male, the upper body is black (dark brown), and the belly and eye rings are white. The light-brown female is usually hornless. Blackbucks usually roam the plains in herds of 15 to 20 animals with one dominant male.

There are four subspecies or geographic races

• Antilope cervicapra cervicapra
• Antilope cervicapra rajputanae
• Antilope cervicapra centralis
• Antilope cervicapra rupicapra

Native habitat

Originally spread over large tracts of India (except in North East India). Today the Blackbuck population is confined to areas in Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Gujarat with a few small pockets in Central India. Its original habitat is open plain and not dense jungles. On the open plain, the Blackbuck is one of the fastest animals and can outrun most predators over long distances.

The diet of the Blackbuck consists mostly of grasses, although it does eat pods, flowers and fruits to supplement its diet. The maximum life span recorded is 16 years and the average is 12 years.

Threats

The main threats to the species are

• Poaching
• Predation
• Habitat destruction
• Overgrazing
• Diseases
• Inbreeding
• Visitors

The Blackbuck is hunted for sport, its flesh and its skin. Although Indian law strictly prohibits the hunting of these endangered animals, there are still occasional incidents of poaching. The remaining populations are under threat from inbreeding. The natural habitat of the Blackbuck is being encroached upon by man's need for arable land and grazing ground for domesticated cattle. Exposure to domesticated cattle also renders the Blackbuck exposed to bovine diseases. Once large herds freely roamed in the plains of North India, where they thrive best, but no longer. During the eighteenth, nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries, Blackbuck was the most hunted wild animal all over India. Until India's independence, many princely states used to hunt this antelope and the other local Indian gazelle, the Chinkara with specially trained pet Asiatic Cheetah. With their habitat of vast grasslands converted into farmlands due to human population explosion the Asiatic Cheetahs are now sadly extinct in India since its independence and in most of Asia, the very last few fight for survival in Iran.

Gallery

		2 young male blackbuck fighting, at the Knowsley Safari Park

Mythology

According to the Hindu mythology Blackbuck or Krishna Jinka is considered as the vehicle (vahana) of the Moon-god or Chandrama.

Miscellaneous

The blackbuck, known as Krishna Jinka in Telugu language, has been declared the state animal of Andhra Pradesh.

Like most wild animals, the Blackbuck is in principle protected in India by the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. Its protected status has gained publicity through a widely reported court case in which one of India's leading film stars, Mr. Salman Khan, was sentenced to five years imprisonment for killing two black bucks and several endangered chinkaras. The arrest 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 the past hunting of Blackbuck with the help of trained Asiatic Cheetahs was a sport much enjoyed by the Indian Royalty.

Ancient Egyptians often kept Asiatic Cheetah as pets. They were also tamed and trained for hunting. Cheetahs would be taken to hunting fields in low-sided bullock carts or by horseback, hooded and blind folded, and kept on leashes while dogs flushed out their prey. When the prey was near enough, the cheetahs would be released and their blind-folds removed. This tradition of hunting with the Asiatic Cheetah was passed on to the ancient Persians and carried to India. This practice continued into the twentieth century by Indian princes who specially enjoyed hunting local Indian Gazelles the Blackbuck and Chinkara with their trained Asiatic Cheetah. Cheetahs continued to be associated with royalty and elegance, their use as pets spreading just as their hunting skills were.

Several species of Indian deer and antelope were brought to the United States, specifically Texas, during the early part of the 20th century for the purpose of hunting and breeding. Some of these included Blackbuck, Axis Deer, or Chital Deer as they are called in India, Barasingha, and Nilgai. These species, plus many others, can now be found on private hunting ranches and freely roaming the Hill Country and surroundings areas in Texas. Game ranch raised blackbucks are so thriving and plentiful that specimens were shipped from Texas to India in order to repopulate certain areas. In 2007, a blackbuck hunt in U.S.A. for a male trophy ranged in price from $750 - $2,500 USD depending on quality and outfitter.

Sanctuaries

• Blackbuck National Park, Velavadar
• Bandhavgarh National Park
• Kanha National Park
• Ranthambhore National Park
• Corbett National Park
• Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary
• Gir National Park
• Guindy National Park
• Kirthar National Park (Pakistan)
• Lal Sohanra National parks (Pakistan)
• Chhapar, Churu, Black Buck Santuary
• Pilikula Biological Park, Mangalore, Karnataka
• Abohar wildlife sanctuary

Namesakes

• SS-8 Sasin, the NATO reporting name for the R-9 Desna intercontinental ballistic missile.

References

• Mallon (2003). Antilope cervicapra. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 06 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is near threatened

• Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/3017.shtml
• Link: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020525/windows/main3.htm

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