Conservation of a Fragmented Population of Blackbuck (&lt;i&gt;Antilope cervicapra&lt;/i&gt;)

Prashanth, M. B.; Saravanan, A; Mathivanan, M; Ganesh, T.

doi:10.18520/cs/v111/i3/543-549

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 10 publications

(12 reference statements)

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“…Interspecific aggressive interactions are known among a variety of animals including ungulates (Hanzlikova et al, 2014). Even in the wild habitats, high density of competitors such as feral cattle affect the health and survival of the Blackbuck (Khanal, 2006;Baskaran et al, 2016;Prashanth et al, 2016). However, we could not quantify the extent of interspecific aggressive interactions between the Blackbuck and Spotted deer enclosed within the same enclosure.…”

Section: Survival Threats Of Blackbuck In Captivitymentioning

confidence: 98%

High Mortality and Altered Diurnal Activity Pattern of Captive Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) in Mrigasthali Enclosure, Pashupatinath Area, Kathmandu

Kc¹,

Khanal

2019

J. Inst. Sci. Tech.

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One of the major objectives of keeping the wild animals in captivity is their successful breeding, population growth and future translocation. However, many species have lesser behavioral flexibility and fail to establish a viable population in captive conditions due to poor management, intolerant climatic conditions, competitions with other co-housed species, diseases, etc. Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) is a nationally endangered and protected mammalian species of Nepal. Blackbucks have been kept under captivity of Mrigasthali enclosure at Pashupatinath Temple area in Kathmandu since 2004 AD and the population has dwindled sharply in recent years. This study was designed to assess the population trend and diurnal activity pattern of the species in the Mrigasthali enclosure. Population census data for the last fifteen years were analyzed and behavioral samplings were done by ‘Focal animal sampling’ and ‘Scan sampling’ methods from 5th April to 29th July 2016. The study revealed a sharp decrease of the population since the outbreak of the foot-and-mouth disease in 2014 exposing the remnant population into the risk of extirpation. The surviving individuals have the diurnal activity pattern and the time budgets prominently different than that of the wild populations, especially, they invest lesser time on feeding and more time on resting. Living in open areas despite cooler climate, intense competition for food and space with spotted deer and monkeys, lower behavioral flexibility of the species, anthropogenic disturbances, stochasticity related to the smaller population size, etc. were perceived as the major threats to the Blackbuck in Mrigasthali enclosure.

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Section: Survival Threats Of Blackbuck In Captivitymentioning

confidence: 98%

High Mortality and Altered Diurnal Activity Pattern of Captive Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) in Mrigasthali Enclosure, Pashupatinath Area, Kathmandu

Kc¹,

Khanal

2019

J. Inst. Sci. Tech.

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“…Habitat loss or fragmentation is one of the most concerned reasons for declining wildlife but in case of Kaimur region intense ground water over use, chemical fertilizers utilization at the rate of 24.423 tons/yr, conversion of open forest into agricultural or other human usage worsen the situation (Sekhar et al 2022a). In India, grasslands are considered as the least protected habitat which constrains conservation efforts towards the grazers, especially the deer populations (Prashanth et al, 2016). Grasslands are often used as wastelands, converted into croplands, human settlements, and landfills.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of habitat fragmentation and its suitability for blackbuck in Kaimur Disrtict: A case study of Bihar

Sekhar,

Pandey,

Singh

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Increasing illegal hunting and poaching, biodiversity loss, and conflicts between people and wildlife, management of ungulates has become important in the study area. Although remote sensing and GIS although have made habitat evaluation easier, the results obtained through these techniques need to be verified manually for robustness and accuracy. The purpose was to identify the suitable area for blackbucks (Antilope cervicapra) using the MaxEnt model. The Area Under Curve (AUC) value of 0.923 showed robust results. Furthermore, based on the results obtained using MaxEnt, a total 10.75% of the area is highly suitable for the blackbucks and 12.45% falls under moderate/less suitable area. About 31.6% of total area falls under wildlife sanctuary located in the south of Kaimur district. Poachers are gaining enormous profit from killing this species because of less effective management and lack of stringent legal anchors. Therefore, integration of community led initiatives in the study area will accelerate conservation efforts of schedule I species and demarcation of Blackbuck Conservation Region (BCR) will serve the foundation stone to achieve conservation milestone of such fragmented habitat population.

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“…Various ecological and behavioural aspects of Blackbuck have been studied in India (Gupta & Bhardwaj 1990;Gehlot & Jakher 2007Kumar & Rahmani 2008;Dookia et al 2011;Gangotri & Gangotri 2014;Baskaran et al 2016;Prashanth et al 2016;Debata 2017;Sagar & Antony 2017) and also in Khairapur, Bardia District, Nepal (Pradhan et al 1999;DNPWC 2012). In Haryana, Ranjitsinh (1989) reported 2,410 Blackbuck from Hisar district alone, from a total of 4,852 Blackbuck in the state, making Hisar a high-density blackbuck area.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal food preferences and group activity pattern of Blackbuck Antilope cervicapra (L., 1758) (Mammalia: Cetartiodactyla: Bovidae) in a semi-arid region of western Haryana, India

et al. 2021

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To evaluate food preferences and group activity patterns, a fragmented population of Blackbuck Antilope cervicapra was selected for observation in a semi-arid ecosystem of western Haryana. A field survey was conducted fortnightly, from dawn to dusk, between September 2019 and August 2020, covering every season. Scan sampling and quadrat methods were used to record data on group size and vegetation. Group sizes ranged from 3 to 72 individuals. Based on visual observation, blackbuck seasonally consumed 26 species belonging to 25 families with varied preferences, out of a total of 53 plant species documented from the study site. Some plant species with high medicinal and therapeutic values were preferred, including Artemisia scoparia, Cucumis callous, Ziziphus jujuba, and Ziziphus nummularia. Unlike most herbivores, Blackbuck also consumed the toxic and medicinally rich Calotropis procera. We suggest that zoos which house blackbuck include these preferred wild plant species in their diet. Observations on group activity were analyzed on hourly, monthly and seasonal bases, and converted into time percentages. Group foraging activity was at a maximum in the monsoon (62%) and minimum in winter (50%), followed by resting: maximum in winter (21%) and minimum (12%) in monsoon, largely influenced by food availability. Foraging/walking ratio was at a maximum (5.2) in monsoon and minimum (3.1) in winter, and was correlated with the number of group sightings (maximum in winter and minimum in monsoon) in nearby farmland, when the animals faced food scarcity in their natural habitat and fed on crops.

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Conservation of a Fragmented Population of Blackbuck (<i>Antilope cervicapra</i>)

Cited by 5 publications

References 10 publications

High Mortality and Altered Diurnal Activity Pattern of Captive Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) in Mrigasthali Enclosure, Pashupatinath Area, Kathmandu

High Mortality and Altered Diurnal Activity Pattern of Captive Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) in Mrigasthali Enclosure, Pashupatinath Area, Kathmandu

Evaluation of habitat fragmentation and its suitability for blackbuck in Kaimur Disrtict: A case study of Bihar

Seasonal food preferences and group activity pattern of Blackbuck Antilope cervicapra (L., 1758) (Mammalia: Cetartiodactyla: Bovidae) in a semi-arid region of western Haryana, India

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