Antelope Indian Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra)

Earlier land use pattern of Pandharpur Tehsil, Dist. SOlapur Maharashtra shows tremendous increase in the agricultural land. This led to habitat destruction of wild animals. In the present study, the population decline was noticed in case of blackbucks. Herd structure of blackbucks were observed in three different sites viz. Bardi, Mendhapur and Anawali from Pandharpur Tehsil. In bardi site, no blackbuck population was noticed. It is due to local
migration of species. In Mendhapur and Anawali small herds were noticed with low individual densities. To find out the causes of blackbuck population decline in these three sites, a questionnaire survey was distributed to 51 households located adjacent to Bardi, Mendhapur and Anawali. 24 % of respondents from Bardi Village reported no sign of Blackbuck herds due to migration. In Anawali and Mendhapur site, 27% of respondents reported that scarcity of food and drinking water are the main causes of conflict and population decline. In Anawali, illegal hunting was reported by 12 % respondents. Accordinhg to 12% of respodants, fencing is very
essential for smaller grassland patches to protect blackbuck population.

Information on the status of the Indian Blackbuck Antilope cervicapra is mostly available from protected areas (PA), although 80% of its population occurs outside PAs. We conducted surveys to assess the status, age structure, sex ratio, and conservation issues of Blackbuck in and around Aligarh between February and June 2014. A median of 672 individuals at 18 separate locations were recorded with a group size ranging 4–216 except for solitary individuals. The abundance of Blackbuck was maximum in Sikandra Rao (range: 154–216) followed by Andla (range: 47–65), and Pala-Sallu (range: 53–62). Sex ratio was skewed towards females (1:4.5) with yearling to female and fawn to female ratio of 7.8:100 and 6.7:100, respectively. The percentage of adult males of Blackbuck (12.8% adult males, 8.4% sub-adult males) as well as adult females (56.4% adult females, 11.9% sub-adult females) was higher than other age classes or groups in the population. The preliminary observations indicate that the increasing population of free-ranging feral dogs, degradation of forest patches, social forestry plantations, competition with livestock, and poaching pressure are the major conservation issues of Blackbuck in the area. The current information is expected to serve as baseline in assessing the population of Blackbuck in the future.