Blackbuck
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Blackbuck (disambiguation).
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| Antilope cervicapra (Linnaeus, 1758) |
Black Buck (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.
Local names for the species include Kala hiran, Sasin, Iralai Maan and Krishna Jinka
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[edit] Description
The horns of the Black Buck 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. The upper body is black with the belly and the eye rings in white colour. The light-brown female is usually hornless. Males are dark brown. Black Bucks usually roam the plains in herds of 15 to 20 animals with one dominant male.
There are four sub species or geographic races
- Antilope cervicapra cervicapra
- Antilope cervicapra rajputanae
- Antilope cervicapra centralis
- Antilope cervicapra rupicapra
[edit] Native habitat
Originally spread over large tracts of India (except in North East India). Today the Black Buck 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 black buck is one of the fleetest animals and can outrun most predators over long distances.
The diet of the black buck 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.
[edit] Threats
The main threats to the species are
- Poaching
- Predation
- Habitat destruction
- Overgrazing
- Diseases
- Inbreeding
- Visitors
The Black Buck is hunted for sport, its flesh and skin. The Law in India protects the black buck but there are violations of the law on occasion. The remaining populations are under threat from inbreeding. The natural habitat of the black buck is being encroached upon by man's need for arable land and grazing ground for domesticated cattle. Exposure to domesticated cattle also renders the black buck exposed to bovine diseases. Their large herds, which once freely roamed in the plains of North India where they thrive best, are no longer visible. During the eighteenth, nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century, black buck was the most hunted wild beast all over India. Till Independence, many princely states used to hunt this Indian Antelope and the other local Indian gazelle the Chinkara with Asiatic Cheetah. Asiatic Cheetah are now extinct in India and in most of Asia but a remanent population of the very last 50 to 60 are all thought to be living in Iran today.
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[edit] Mythology
According to the Hindu mythology Blackbuck or Krishna Jinka is considered as the vehicle (vahana) of the Moon-god or Chandrama.
[edit] Miscellaneous
The blackbuck, known as Krishna Jinka in Telugu language, has been declared the state animal of Andhra Pradesh.
Like most wild animals, the black buck 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 Cheetah" 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.
[edit] Sanctuaries
- Blackbuck National Park, Velavadar
- Bandhavgarh National Park
- Kanha National Park
- Ranthambhore National Park
- Corbett National Park
- Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary
- Gir National Park
- Kirthar National Park (Pakistan)
- Lal Sohanra National parks (Pakistan)
- Chhapar, Churu, Black Buck Santuary
[edit] Namesakes
- SS-8 Sasin, the NATO reporting name for the R-9 Desna intercontinental ballistic missile.
[edit] 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
