ANTELOPE: Antelopes are known for their graceful build.  They possible evolved from an ancestor common to them, and oxen, sheep and goats.  There are three kinds of antelopes, the blackbuck, chausingha, and nilgai, who occupy dry scrubby areas of India.

1. BEHAVIOUR: Antelopes have a very graceful build.  Their horns are usually marked with prominent rings.  They have a gland under the eyes, which when swollen, attracts attention.  Their inguinal (in the groin area) glands are large, and used for communication.
2. FAMILY: Like all bovids, antelopes congregate in large groups during the breeding season.  Adult males are usually solitary, or clustered in groups known as bachelor herds.  Only the best male gets to mate in a herd.
3. FACTS: Antelopes share characteristics with oxen, as well as sheep and goats.  Hey are the earliest known ruminants (Cud-chewing animals), and in structure the most generalized.  It is believed that antelopes represent the original stock from which oxen on one hand, and sheep on the other, were derived.  The Indian blackbuck, chausingha and nilgai are found in the Indian subcontinent.

TYPES:

1. NILGAI [Boselephus Tragocamlus]

Nilgai are also known as blue bulls because of the adult male’s iron-grey colored coat.  Younger bulls and females are tawny in color, with white spots on the lips, chin, neck and legs.  This is the largest antelope and prefers scrub forests.  It is found almost throughout the Indian subcontinent, usually in-group of 4-10.  They feed on grasses, and on tree leaves and fruits.  They can go without water for long periods.  Their sense of smell and sight are well developed.  Hearing is moderately developed.  They deposit their droppings at one place that in time accumulates to form dung piles.  They usually have four offspring, one in each season.  The questation (pregnancy) period is 8-9 months.

2. BLACKBUCK [Antelope Cervicapra]

The blackbuck or Indian antelope as it is commonly known is the true representative of its family.  It is the second fastest land mammal, after the cheetah.  Its striking color and beautifully spiraled horns give it elegance unequalled by any other antelope.  Once found almost throughout the Indian subcontinent, today it faces the twin threats of habitat destruction and poaching.

BEHAVIOR:

1. HABITAT: The prefer open plains covered with scrub, grasslands and even cultivated areas.  They are well adapted to desert conditions, and avoid forests and hilly tracts. The best places to see blackbuck in the wild are the Velavadar National Park in Gujarat, and Guindy National Park in Tamil Nadu.
2. HABIT: Blackbuck can usually be spotted in herds of 20-30, although groups of over 100 animals are also known.  Their sense of hearing and smell is moderate.  Keen eyesight and speed are their protection against predators.  When alarmed, the herd moves off in a series of light leaps and bounds, before breaking in to a gallop.  The leadership of the herd is usually vested in an old, and vigilant, female.
3. FOOD: Blackbuck is ‘ruminating herbivores’.  They feed on grass and various cereal crops.  They usually graze until near noon, and resume in the late afternoon.  In between, they rest during the hot daylight hours.  These copious drinkers can survive without water for days.
4. LOCOMOTION: Only the cheetah could outrun a blackbuck in full gallop on land.  Their swift, galloping gait makes them the fastest animal in the plains.

 FAMILY:

1. OFFSPRING: One or two offspring are produced at a time. The mother usually conceals them in the grass. They gain strength rapidly, and soon join the herd.
2. COURTSHIP: Blackbuck males congregate in large herds that are known as ‘leks’.  The females come and inspect these ‘leks’ to choose the best looking male.  The males also have to fright among themselves to win over the female.
3. BREEDING: Blackbucks breed in all seasons, but the main rut takes place between February and March.  During this time, several males from groups known as ‘leks’.  The females come to inspect the males and choose the best ones on display.  Males often even desert their exciting harem in favor of a new doe.

 FACTS:

1. PREDATORS: After the now-extinct Indian cheetah, the black is the fastest land animal.  Its natural predators are the wolf, jackal, hyena and tiger.
2. NUMBERS: At the beginning of the 19^th century, blackbuck was found all over India.  However, they are under great threat, and are now on the verge of extinction.  There are an estimated 25,000 in Rajasthan and Gujarat, their highest density.

3. CHAUSINGHA [Tetracerus quadricornis]

Chausingha means four horns.  This antelopes is distinguished from true antelopes by the absence of spiral rings on its horns.  The mails have two pairs of horns, and the forward ones are always shorter.  Their coat is dull red-brown with a while under-belly.  Chausingha live in well-wooded, hilly parts of central and southern India.  In addition, usually avoid dense forests.  They are highly dependent on water and seldom live far from it.  They breed during the summer into the rainy season.  In addition, the young are born from October to February.