Blackbuck

Blackbuck ( Antilope cervicapra ) is a type of antelope that is native ( indigenous) to the Indian plains and belongs to the family Bovidae. It is an antelope belonging to the same tribe (Antilopini) which includes gazelles, springboks, and gerenuks. The adult male's horns, which are long (50-61 cm [20-24 inches], the record being 71.5 cm [28.1 inches]), spirally twisted, V-shaped, and covered with noticeable ridges nearly to the tips, are what distinguish the blackbuck from other species. Additionally, there is a far greater contrast than is seen in any of the blackbuck's tribal relatives between the mature male blackbucks' black-and-white colouring and the reddish yellow colouring of females and juvenile males. 

 

Male blackbucks stand 74-88 cm (29-35 inches) at the shoulder and weigh 34-45 kg (75-100 pounds). Females aren't much smaller than males, weighing in around 31–39 kg (68–86 pounds) and standing a few centimetres shorter at the shoulder. The mouth, underside, inner legs, circular eye patches, and rump patch are all white on females as well. The appearance of horns is the only evident distinction between females and young males. Even black males, who are most colourful at the end of the monsoon season, start to lose their colour in the middle of winter following their annual moult, and by early April when the warm weather arrives, they turn quite brown in colour. In fact, there is a population of southern Indians where males never go black. Male blackbucks are still darker than females and young (immature ) males. 

 

Blackbucks are grazers who prefer open, short grassland, although they can also thrive in semi-desert provided there is enough flora, and they frequently visit salt pans that are almost completely bare. They stay away from shrubland and woods, though. Although they prefer green grass, they will browse when it is scarce. Blackbucks in Rajasthan's semidesert have been seen to drink twice daily. They are active during the day, can withstand the fiercest sun, and only seek cover for two to three hours at noon.

 

Blackbuck originally roamed the broad plains of the whole Indian subcontinent, but as the human population has increased, its numbers and habitat have significantly decreased. In protected areas, the blackbuck population has increased to 25,000 from its estimated low point of 8,000 in 1964, which was 80,000 in 1947. Agglomerations of 8,000–10,000 were noted in East Punjab's reasonably well-watered savannas toward the end of the 19th century. 

 

However, groups larger than 30-50 consisting of bachelor males, females and young with or without a territorial male, and maternity herds of females guarding concealed young are now unusual. Blackbucks have a six-month gestation period and can have two young every year. Breeding takes place all year long, however the major peak months for birth and rutting are February and March, with a secondary peak occurring in August and September after the end of the monsoon. 

 

Only territorial males reproduce; they only protect areas as small as 8 hectares (20 acres) for only a weeks. Rutting bucks approach females with prancing feet, a curled tail, and enlarged preorbital glands that are everted while grunting throatily. Dung middens and gummy, black preorbital secretions left on grass stems and bushes serve as territorial markers.

Blackbucks mostly rely on vision to evade capture. The only predator they cannot outrun is the cheetah, which the Mughals formerly used for the enjoyment of coursing blackbucks and gazelles. They are as swift as any antelope. The main predators now –pariah dogs and jackals feed mainly on fawns.

 

Iucn- Least Concern

Wpa 1972- Schedule 1

 

Topi  (Damaliscus lunatus), also known as tsessebe or sassaby, is one of the most widespread and widely distributed antelopes in Africa. It belongs to the same family as the blesbok, hartebeest, and wildebeest, member of the Alcelaphini tribe. In southern and eastern Africa, Damaliscus lunatus is referred to as the sassaby or tsessebe and as the topi in East Africa respectively. 

 

The topi is a thin, sleek animal designed for prolonged speed. It has higher forequarters that slope to lower hindquarters and resembles a smaller, darker hartebeest, but it has a less elongated head and ordinary-looking horns that are similar in both sexes. The largest populations are found on the vast floodplains of the northern savanna and in nearby arid regions, particularly in South Sudan, where hundreds of thousands of the tiang subspecies (D. lunatus tiang) once migrated in search of green pastures and may still be numerous despite decades of conflict in that area. 

 

The average height and weight of females is 20 percent less than that of males, who typically stand 115 cm (45 inches) tall, weigh 130 kg (290 pounds), and have horns that are 30-40 cm (12-16 inches) long. The tsessebe is the least colourful subspecies and has horns that are weaker and formed like a crescent moon (lunatus, from the Latin for "moon").The East African topi's reddish brown coat, which is made more noticeable by reverse countershading, has the most colourful coat among the basic tan coloration with black spots on the upper limbs that strengthens toward the north and east (lighter above and darker below). 

 

All young calves are a similar light tan colour without markings. Of all the antelopes, the topi possesses one of the most variable social and mating structures. Large individual territories, tiny permanent herds, massive migratory aggregations, and breeding arenas, or leks, where males congregate and compete to inseminate females are just a few examples of social systems. The commonality among all the variations is that males need to own property in order to procreate. Males may cling to territories of 50–400 hectares (125–1,000 acres) in woody savanna where the preferred open grassland is patchy year after year, leaving only to drink or travel to regions where the first vegetation has sprouted after fires in the dry season. 

 

Herds of 2 to 10 females and their young spend the entire year within their customary home ranges, which may just be a few areas. On open plains, topi frequently congregate in groups of hundreds (instead of thousands) and are movable; they start to migrate when the distance between their feeding areas in the wet and dry seasons is great. Males must hold transient territories in order to avoid being left behind, thus they migrate but immediately establish new territories after the aggregation settles. 

 

Leks are developed at great density on extensive plains in certain locations often used or travelled by huge aggregations during a mating season of around three months. (The kob and the lechwe are the only other antelopes known to form leks.) In an arena, up to 100 males may swarm together, with the core males possibly barely 25 metres (80 feet) apart. A select handful of them dominate matings with the females, who come particularly to mate and may be led to the preferred location by the scent of their ancestors. Close to the conclusion of the dry season, topi females give birth. Eight months are required for gestation, and the single calf can hide for up to three weeks.

 

Its IUCN Status is Vulnerable.