Bio-ecology, behaviour and management of blue bull,<i>Boselaphus tragocamelus</i>

Babbar, Bhupinder Kaur; Singla, Neena; Kaur, Harjinder; Verma, Meenu; Rani, K. Sheela Sobana; Bala, Bindu; Jain, Somya

doi:10.1080/09670874.2022.2104402

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The present result of diurnal activity pattern of blue bull of behavioral time budget showed that the grazing time was highest (39%) followed by resting (27%), locomotion (23%), alert (8%) etc. Similar results were observed in behavioral study of blue bull around the world (Quasin et al 2014;Babbar et al 2022). Not only blue bulls, such types of behaviors are shown by many ungulates and herbivore species (Hudson & Frank 1987;Rosenbaum et al 2019).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

“…IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has listed the species under the 'Least Concern' category (IUCN 2016); however, in Nepal, it is vulnerable and is often considered as a problem animal for its crop raiding habit (Jnawali et al 2011). They usually avoid the densely wooded areas and inhabit undulating plains with grass and patches of scrub (Schaller 2009), and often encountered in agricultural crop fields raiding crops (Chauhan & Singh 1990;Babbar et al 2022). They are both grazer and browser, but grasses constitute bulk of their diet (Mirza & Khan 1975;Sankar & Vijayan 1992).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Habitat use and diurnal activity budget of blue bulls (Boselaphus tragocamelus) in the Lumbini Heritage Site, Nepal

Pandey

Pandey²,

Khanal

2022

Nep. J. Zool.

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Blue bulls (Boselaphus tragocamelus) in Nepal are found near human settlements, crop fields and forest patches of lowland Terai and their management is becoming challenging due to conflicts with locals. This study explored habitat use and diurnal activity pattern of blue bulls at the Lumbini Heritage Site (LHS), one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites from Nepal between 29 February and 31 March 2022. The habitat availability was quantified from classified land use land cover data of 10 m resolution and habitat use of the blue bulls was studied by direct observation. Activities of the blue bulls were recorded by the focal animal sampling method to determine the diurnal time budget for three observational phases 7:00–10:30 AM, 10:30–2:00 PM, and 2:00–5:30 PM; morning, afternoon and late-afternoon, respectively. The behavioral states recorded were grazing, locomotion, resting, alert and other activities (running, fighting, etc.). A total of 73 individuals of blue bulls were recorded along the 20 line transects each of 200–300 m in length. The majority of the blue bull individuals (52.05%) were observed in grassland that occupied only 7.14% of the LHS while lesser were found in dense forests (44.44% of the LHS) and agricultural land. Blue bulls spent the majority of their diurnal time on feeding followed by resting and locomotion. Feeding peaked during the morning and late-afternoon observational phases when the temperature was low whereas resting was the major activity in the afternoon. Because the grasslands are the most used habitats by blue bulls in the LHS, especially for feeding, we emphasize the proper management of the grasslands.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat use and diurnal activity budget of blue bulls (Boselaphus tragocamelus) in the Lumbini Heritage Site, Nepal

Pandey

Pandey²,

Khanal

2022

Nep. J. Zool.

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“…Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh ranked second and third, respectively. A total of 3,278 cases of crop raids by nilgai were reported during 2009-2013 in Madhya Pradesh, and the state government had to pay 1.2 crore Indian Rupees (US$ 146,568) as compensation to victims (Babbar et al 2022). Previous studies suggest that Uttar Pradesh has the largest population of nilgai (2,54,449) in India (Chauhan 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Human-Nilgai negative interactions in India: a systematic review through print media report analysis

Chandel,

Madan,

Jain

et al. 2024

J. Threat. Taxa

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Despite being one of the most conflict-prone species in India, the Nilgai antelope Boselaphus tragocamelus has received little scientific attention. In this study, we address this knowledge gap by conducting an analysis of secondary data extracted from print media reports on Human-Nilgai negative interactions at the regional scale (tehsils and districts) across different states of India. Our findings revealed notable variations in conflict levels among different states, with Bihar emerging as the most affected (86 tehsils and 22 districts), followed by Madhya Pradesh (34 tehsils; 21 districts) and Uttar Pradesh (33 tehsils; 20 districts). Within Bihar, Muzaffarpur and East Champaran districts stand out for their high conflict levels. Crop raiding by different populations of Nilgai is identified as the primary cause of the negative interaction, with a relative frequency of occurrence of 98%. Attacks on humans by nilgai, although rare, accounted for a relative frequency of occurrence of only 1.2%. Additionally, newspapers reported retaliatory killings, with a relative frequency of occurrence of 0.84%. Between 2018 and 2022, nilgai populations were documented raiding 45 distinct crop types. Analysis of these raids revealed varying frequencies across different crop categories, with vegetables being the most heavily targeted (31%), followed by pulses (22%) and cereals (20%). Our study identifies priority tehsils and districts across different states in the country where studies aiming at nilgai-crop interactions, population dynamics, and movement ecology can be carried out to devise effective mitigation measures.

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Habitat Suitability and Conflict Zone Mapping for the Blue Bull (Boselaphus tragocamelus) across Nepal

Dhami

Bhusal

Adhikari

et al. 2023

Animals

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Rapidly changing environmental conditions (bioclimatic, anthropogenic, topographic, and vegetation-related variables) are likely to alter the spatial distribution of flora and fauna. To understand the influence of environmental variables on the Blue bull’s distribution and to identify potential conflict zones, the habitat suitability analysis of the Blue bull was performed using ensemble modeling. We modelled the distribution of the Blue bull using an extensive database on the current distribution of the Blue bull and selected 15 ecologically significant environmental variables. We used ten species distribution modeling algorithms available in the BIOMOD2 R package. Among the ten algorithms, the Random Forest, Maxent, and Generalized linear model had the highest mean true skill statistics scores, ensuring better model performance, and were considered for further analysis. We found that 22,462.57 km2 (15.26%) of Nepal is suitable for the Blue bull. Slope, precipitation seasonality, and distance to the road are the environmental variables contributing the most to the distribution of Blue bull. Of the total predicted suitable habitats, 86% lies outside protected areas and 55% overlaps with agricultural land. Thus, we recommend that the future conservation initiatives including appropriate conflict mitigation measures should be prioritized equally in both protected areas and outside protected areas to ensure the species’ survival in the region.

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Bio-ecology, behaviour and management of blue bull,Boselaphus tragocamelus

Cited by 3 publications

References 28 publications

Habitat use and diurnal activity budget of blue bulls (Boselaphus tragocamelus) in the Lumbini Heritage Site, Nepal

Habitat use and diurnal activity budget of blue bulls (Boselaphus tragocamelus) in the Lumbini Heritage Site, Nepal

Understanding Human-Nilgai negative interactions in India: a systematic review through print media report analysis

Habitat Suitability and Conflict Zone Mapping for the Blue Bull (Boselaphus tragocamelus) across Nepal

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