T
his is the beautiful animal which is widely shows in the gir forest and some time this creature reach to villages near the forest to finding of meal.
and they eat the crops which are hardly grown by the farmers ....
The Blue Bull Found...
They prefer arid areas, grassy steppe woodlands, scrub areas, dry deciduous
forests and agricultural areas. They avoid dense forest and deserts.
Nilgai is a social animal. Generally, they found in small herbs of 4 to 20,
sometime found in large groups of 20 to 100 animals. They usually found in
single-sex or mixed-sex herds. Adult males are often seen alone and wander
widely. Male Blue bulls, after they reach old age, may be found leading a
solitary life.
Nilgai is herbivorous animal (Primary consumer), they feed on various types
of grass, leaves, herbs, shrubs, buds, flowers, seeds and fruits. They are
diurnal, with peaks in activity in the early morning and late afternoon.
They drink regularly during the hot season but can go 2 to 4 days without
water in cool weather.
They are shy and sensitive in nature. They have good eyesight and hearing,
but they do not have a good sense of smell.
They are good runners, and can run up to 48 kmph. They can stand on their
hind legs to browse as high as possible.
Nilgai is generally known as quiet animal. They produce short grunts when
alarmed and clicking sounds when females feed their babies. Nilgai have been
recorded making a roaring vocalization.
Breeding occurs throughout the year, but peak in November to March. Males
are establish territories during the breeding season, attempting to gather and
keep small herds of females within their area.
Fighting occurs between dominant bulls for the females, and serious injury
or death sometimes results. Males will mate with more than one female during
mating season.
Nilgai are found in the north Indian plains from the bottom of Northern
Himalayas to Karnataka in the South. They are also distributed in Gir forest of Gujarat and across the
border of Rajasthan to Assam and West Bengal in East.
The population density of these antelopes in Central India is 0.07 per
square kilometer. It is also noted that there are some feral populations in
southern parts of India. Their distribution was also seen in Thar Desert
earlier but with very limited numbers.
Since Nilgai are diurnal, they are active during the day time rather than in
the night hours. Their habitat includes grasslands, woodlands, and dense
forest, plain and low hills with shrubs. It can be scattered across cultivated
areas, semi-urban areas, water holes, defecation areas and scrubs jungle.
Places
Found
Gir National Park: The Gir National Park is situated in Gujarat with an area
of 120 square-miles with rich flora and habitat. The wildlife here includes
Nilgai (Blue bull), Sambar deer, Chital, Jackal, Hyena, leopard, lion and
Langur Monkeys. Jeep safari is conducted in order to view all the wildlife at
Gir National park.
Sariska Tiger Reserve: The Sariska Tiger Reserve is a national park in India
located in the Alwar district of Rajasthan. The park is situated at a distance
of 107 km from Jaipur and 200 km from Delhi. This area was a hunting reserve
and it was declared a wildlife reserve in 1955. The current area of the park is
866 kms. Most commonly spotted carnivores here are leopard, Bengal tiger, wild
jackal, wild dog, sambhar, chital, hyena, wild cat, nilgai, wild boar, etc.
Bandhavgarh National Park: Bandhavgarh National Park is located at Madhya
Pradesh, India with an area of about 450 square kilometers. The thick forest of
Bandhavgarh National Park sits in between the cliffs of the Vindhyan Mountains.
The forest has the wild attraction like Indian leopard, Elephants, Tiger,
Nilgai, Chausingha, Chital, Chinkara,
Indian Muntjac Chital, Sambar, Wild Boar and Fox or Golden Jackal. Elephant
safari and Jeep safari are conducted in order to view all the wildlife of
Bandhavgarh National park.
Ranthambore Tiger Reserve : It is located in Rajasthan and is one of the
largest national parks in Northern India with an area of 392 kms. This is one
of India's Project Tiger reserves with the officials highly monitoring against
the poachers. The other national parks may include Rampara Wildlife Sanctuary,
Wild Ass Sanctuary and many of the semi-urban areas.
Food of Blue Bull (Nilgai )
Indian Nilgai are herbivores and hence feed on the vegetarian foods like
grass, flowers, seeds, fruits, buds, leaves, stem, scrubs, shrubs, desert
succulents, forbs, cultivation crops and other woody plants.
Indian
Mythology About Blue Bull (Nilgai )
Blue Bull or Nilgai are considered as a sacred animal by Hindus because of their
resemblance to cow, which is the god of money and hence protected against
hunting.
Blue bull can thrive for a long period of time without a sip of water.
Blue Bull or Nilgai are the largest Asian antelope.
Blue Bull can run at a speed of 48 kmph.
Males compete amongst themselves by performing various forms like neck
kneeling, wrestling, and lunging at each other using their horns.
They are silent antelopes but roar at times.
Blue bull rendezvous happens during the deposit of their droppings.
The disease named "Foot-and-mouth" and malignant catarrhal fever
is spread from Nilgai.
Facts about....
Blue Bull or Nilgai : The Largest Asian antelope
Blue Bull or Nilgai is a powerful creature (antelope) which is found in many parts of
India. This species is in the spotlight these days because it’s going to killed
in Bihar and two ministers in the Modi government (Maneka Gandhi and Prakash
Javadekar) have come face to face. Let us know something about this creature
1.) Female Nilgai color gray, beige or brown while the males are bluish
color. Splotch of white on the throat of the male versus the female would not
mark it on.
2.)According to the DNA test after having phylogenetic study of
1992, it showed that Nilgai is made up of Boslafini (goat, sheep
species), Bovini (cattle) and Trejlafini (deer species) animal species.
3.) In ‘Aitareya Brahman‘ which was written 1000 BC have a reference of
Nilgai. This species was used to do worship.
4.) During the Mughal period have the reference of hunting of this species.
In his biography of Mughal emperor Jahangir, is a reference that once they were
very angry at the victim.
5.) Apart from India, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh is also host this
species. According to a census in 2001 in India host more than 10 million
of Nilgai.
6.) It can last up to several days without water, and can run on a long
distance in a worst surface without getting tired. Normally It does sound low
but removes noise while fighting severe.
7.) The weight of Nilgai is up to 200 Kg, and sometimes even a tiger may not
able to hunt this species.
8.) Normally it avoids the dense forest and loves to live in a thick
forests, thorny shrubs, small trees. When they invaded to the fields for food
from than the conflict with the humans started.
9.) The Name nilgai is made up of blue and cow. Niil is Urdu words
while cow is hindi. In times of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb is was also
known as blue horse.
Blue Bull is also known as Blue Buck or Nil Gai,
The vernacular name "nilgai" (pronounced /ˈnɪlˌgaɪ/) comes from the fusion of the Sanskrit word
nil ("blue") and gai ("cow").
The word was first recorded in use in 1882 Alternative origins could be from the Sanskrit gabhih ("female bovid"), or Persian gaw ("cow"). The nilgai has been referred to by a variety of names: neelghae, nilgau, nilgo, nylghau, and nylghai,constructions referring to other "blue" animals. They are also known as white-footed antelope.
During Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's reign (1658–1707) of India, the nilgai was known by the name nilghor ("nil" for "blue" and "ghor" for "horse")
the Indian Nilgai or Blue Bull or Blue Buck is the biggest Asian antelope with the scientific name boselaphus tragocamelus tragocanelus falling under the family Bovidae. It is the most commonly seen animal in central Northern India and pakistan. It looks m ore or less as an ox with below classification,
Nilgai is a Schedule – III animal, according to wildlife (Protection)
act, 1972 and classified as Least Concern (LC) by the IUCN.
Classification
Common Name –Nilgai / Blue bull
Local Name – Nilgai / Rojh / Roz / Rojra
Zoological Name – Boselaphus tragocamelus
Kingdom – Animalia
Phylum – Chordata
Class – Mammalia
Order – Cetartiodactyla
Family – Bovidae
Subfamily – Bovinae
Genus – Boselaphus
Body Structure
this antelope is covered with the yellow-brown or oragish colored skin for female and blue-gray or brownish-gray in males. Both have thin and medium legs.
They have a long and narrow head with two small smooth horns and both making a U shape. They have white spots on the cheeks, edges of lips and the ventral side of the body. they e long and heavy hair on the back part of neck and on the mid of throat.
They have small tail which moves to and fro when the bull is excited. the strong solders and thick neck helps them to intensity on slopping profile. Blue Bull (Nilgai) is 4-5 feet (120-150 cm ) tall and 6-6.6 feet (180-200 cm) long.
Tthe length of tail ranges from 40 to 45 cm. they weigh about 264 to 829 pound (120-240 kg.).the horns are 8-10 inch (20-25 cm)long.
Their life span can be 20-30 years. Blue Bull (Nil Gai) herds comprise about 10 animals: occasionally 20-100 number could be seen in group. A Blue Bull can survive for long days without water ,but they closely live near water holes. This antelope usually gather in order to deposit their droppings.
Sometimes referred to as the "blue bull" (Nilgai), it is the
largest of all Asian antelopes and is one of the most commonly seen wild
animals in all of India.
Nilgai stand 3 feet 7 inches to almost 5 feet tall at
the shoulder (1.1 to 1.5 meters) and have a length of 5 foot 7 inches to almost
7 feet (1.7 to 2.1 meters).
They weigh between 220 and 680 pounds (100 to 308
kilograms); this makes them quite the imposing creatures.
Their somewhat
peculiar shape make them very interesting to the eye.
The nilgai are very
robust animals with bodies similar to horses, but have much smaller heads and
small horns (only on the males), leading many to compare them to a cross
between a horse and a goat.
Females are a lighter brown color and slightly less
robustly built. Both males and females have a short bristly mane.
