Blackbuck with crooked deformed horns that grow together

• published: 13 Oct 2015
• views: 13

Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) is the only representative of genus antilope found in India. It is one of the most graceful animals and used to be seen in thousands at the beginning of this century all throughout the plains of India except the Western coast. Due to extensive poaching and habitat loss, blackbuck populations have been reduced drastically. Now they can be seen in a a few protected areas like the Guindy National park and IITM campus, Point Calimere and Vellanadu Sanctuaries in Tamil Nadu and Rollapadu (Andhra Pradesh), Velavadar (Gujarat) and Chilka (Orissa) other than few parts of Rajasthan and Hariyana. In IIT Madras campus too, their numbers have declined from hundreds in the eighties to less than 20 in 2003. In January 2009, the number has gone up to 21 with many efforts like removal of fences in the academic zone, periodic removal of stary dogs from their habitat area, closing of open wells and pits etc etc. Blackbuck require open grass lands with intermittent tall grass or bushes (for delivery, fawn nursing and to seek protection against predators as well as the rain and wind). This is unlike the spotted deer, which can survive in dense forests and bush jungles. Blackbuck are also very territorial and sensitive to environmental pressures. An adult male blackbuck tries to maintain his territory by marking it and defending it in the rutting season. When the population increases they require adequate space for healthy survival. Similarly, the female blackbuck requires tall grass or small bushe to delivers fawns (one per year mostly). The fawn will "lie down" during the first one week hidden in the grass/bush and the mother will nurse at few hours interval. The blackbuck fawns are quite weak during the first few weeks and can be easily predated by dogs. Therefore it is very essential to have undisturbed open areas with small bush/tall grass cover for the healthy survival of young blackbuck. The fawn will join the mother and other group members when it is about two weeks old. Their capability to run at speeds of 70kmph makes them the fastest surviving species on the subcontinent and protects them against most predators alive today. Due to shrinkage and fragmentation of habitat everywhere, the pressure on existing habitats is quite high. This also tells us that it is inappropriate to think of shifting and relocating them elsewhere. In addition, the casualities asssociated with such processes are quite high. It is important to protect them in distributed and more number of habitats, where ever possible. Today, blackbuck is included in the endangered species list in India (included in Schedule I of Indian Wildlife Act, 1972). Therefore, IITM campus has an important role in protecting the blackbuck in the campus which is their original and native habitat. Source: home.iitm.ac.in/prakriti/prakriti/protectblackbuck.html This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of HD imagery from South Asia. The collection comprises of 100, 000+ hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM / SR 1080i High Definition, Alexa, SR, XDCAM and 4K. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... Please subscribe to our channel wildfilmsindia on Youtube for a steady stream of videos from across India. Also, visit and enjoy your journey across India at www.clipahoy.com , India's first video-based social networking experience! Reach us at rupindang [at] gmail [dot] com and admin@wildfilmsindia.com