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Deccan above Krishna River. They are probably on the way to total
disappearance.
The Nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus) avoids dense forests, its usual
haunts being undulating country sparsely covered with trees and scrub. A
large ungainly antelope, the adult males are iron-grey in colour, young
bulls and females tawny. The nilgai received a certain amount of
protection from its supposed resemblance to cattle, but this has not been
significant and the species is on the verge of extinction in Maharashtra
State.
The Four-horned Antelope (Tetracerus quadricornis) is, as the name
suggests, unique as the only animal in the world with four horns. A small
(65 cm. at shoulder) dull red-brown antelope, usually solitary or in pairs,
occasionally in small family parties in forested country, throughout the
State.
The Blackbuck, Antilope cervicapra, is an exclusively Indian Antelope
and perhaps the handsomest of the group. Adult males black above
contrasting strongly with the white of the belly; females and young males,
fawn. The yearling buck has no spiral to the horn which develops in the
second year. The adult colour is attained after the third year. The main
rutting season is February-March. One or occasionally two young are
born. An inhabitant of open scrub covered and cultivated plains,
blackbucks were once common in herds of hundreds throughout the
Deccan. Poaching and extensive cultivation have diminished their
numbers and only a few pockets of populations now remain. They are now
completely protected under the laws but unless the laws are effectively
enforced, and poaching prevented, this species will soon cease to be a part
of our fauna.
The Gaur or Indian Bison (Bos gaurus) is restricted to a few heavily
forested districts in the Vidarbha areas of the State. A few may perhaps
occur in the Ghat forests adjoining the Kanara district of Mysore. The
Gaur prefers hilly country and rarely if ever enters cultivation. One of the
largest among wild bovine, a bull may attain a shoulder height of 195 cm.
FAUNA 611