Blackbuck antelope
Our animals:
Family:
Bovidae
Order:
Artiodactyla
Class:
mammals
Length:
100-150 cm
Weight:
25-45 kg
Nutrition: Grasses, leaves, herbaceous plants, pulses, fruits and flowers.
Reproduction: The gestation time is about 5-6 months, at the end of which one kid is born. The specimen lives for about 13 years.
Did you know? Bovidae represent the peak of even-toed ungulates, as richness of form and species characterizes these species and sub-species. According to Hindu mythology, Chandrama the god of moon travels on the back of an Indian antelope, and brings luck wherever he goes.
Watch it! It is one of the few antelope species where it is easy to differentiate the sexes based on their appearance: females and young antelopes are tawny, the back of the buck turns dark brown at the age of 3.
Among the members of Antilopinae family, the males of the blackbuck has the most beautiful twisted horn that can even be 60 cms long. It has big eyes and big ears, so it perceives possible dangers due to its excellent seeing, hearing and smelling skills.
Habitat: It is the inhabitant of open grasslands. It can be found in smaller amounts in almost the entire territory of India, except the mountains and the humid areas, such as marshes and bog forests of the delta of Ganges. In the 19th century about 4 millions blackbucks lived in lowlands of India, in united herds of thousands of specimens. Now there are only 50,000 of them. Because of biotope constriction, it is still hunting that poses the greatest threat to the species, though since 1972 it has been protected by Indian laws.
Spread: It was spread to the Indian subcontinent (India, Nepal, and Pakistan).
