An overview of the Black Buck

6. IMMATURE BUCKS
• Born light, turn dark at maturity.
• Similar in appearance to
the Does.
 Yellowish fawn on the
upper parts and outsides
of limbs.
 White on the lower parts.
 The two colours can be
sharply differentiated.
• Can be differentiated from the does by the presence of horns.

8. • Long spiralling horns.
• Undersides and insides of legs- White
• Chin patch.
• Most colourful at the end of the monsoons. Fade in
mid winter after the annual moult to become brown
by early April.
Males exhibiting increasing levels of maturity from right to left

9. DOES
• Yellowish fawn on the head
and along the back.
• White on the undersides and
insides of the legs.
• Absence of horns.

10. Weight:
- Male
- Female
34- 45 kg
31- 39 kg
Height at the shoulder:
- Male
- Female
74- 88 cm
Few cm shorter
Length 122 cm
Horns:
- Length
- Tip- to- tip distance
- Number of spirals
51- 69 cm
23- 46 cm
3- 5

11. Sexual maturity:
- Male
- Female
3 years
2 years
Gestation 6 months
Life span 18 years
• Parturition occurs twice every 14 months.
• One or two offsprings are produced per
parturition.

12. • Grasslands and slightly wooded regions.
• Restricted to where surface water is available
for the greater part of the year.
HABITAT SUITABILITY
Sub tropical/ Tropical dry
forests
Marginal
Sub tropical/ Tropical dry
lowland grasslands
Suitable
Hot deserts Marginal
Arable land Suitable
Pasture land Suitable

13. Tropical/ Sub- tropical grassland A Black Buck in a ploughed field

14. • Native- India
• Regionally extinct-
Bangladesh, Nepal and
Pakistan
• Introduced- Argentina and
USA (Texas)
• Present in Maharashtra,
Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan,
Haryana, Gujarat, Andhra
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka
and a places in Central India.

15. • Predation defence
• Hierarchy
• Acoustic communication
• Herbivorous (Grazers)
• Maternal care
• Polygamous
• Precocial
• Territorial
• Adapted to running
• Sexual dimorphism
• Social

16. HIERARCHY:
• Colloquially known as the “Pecking order”.
• Animals at the top of the hierarchy ladder
aggressively dominate those that rank below in
order to retain access to resources such as
food, mates or safe places to sleep.

17. ACOUSTIC COMMUNICATION:
As per Forsynth,
• Males- Grunt which is peculiar to them. Grunt
when excited.
• Females- Hiss when alarmed.

18. POLYGAMOUS:
• The male mates with numerous females but not vice
versa. This leads to fierce competition amongst the
males.
• Many males fail to impress any female and remain
unmated throughout their lives.
• Males remain sexually excited throughout the year.
• Mating occurs throughout the year though the
reproductive peaks are in March- April and August-
October.
• Males approach with prancing steps, curled tails and
swollen everted preorbital glands while emitting throaty
grunts.

19. Male displaying to the femalesMales displaying by performing the parallel walk
Courtship display by a male

20. TERRITORIAL:
• Males defend areas ranging 1.5- 15 ha. They
may allow females to pass through.
• Young bucks and males without territories may
form their own all- male groups. Upon hitting
maturity, they may split to establish their own
territories.
• Mark their territories with dung middens and
sticky black preorbital secretions deposited on
grass blades and bushes.

21. Dung middens Preorbital gland
A male marking his territory using his preorbital glands

22. SOCIAL:
• Does generally travel in small herds of 10- 30.
Sometimes, the herd size may increase to 50
with a single buck which may accompany
them.
• Immature bucks, at times, stay with these
herds but are eventually driven out by the older
buck to form their own territories.

23. A bachelor herd A herd of females

24. ADAPTED TO RUNNING:
• One of the fastest animals.
• Speed- 80 km/ hour.
• Can only be out run by the Cheetah.

25. OTHER BEHAVIOURS:
• Rutting:
 Sparring and fighting with their horns.
 Rut as a form of play, to exhibit dominance and
breeding previliges.
• Mostly sedentary. May move long distances in
search of water and food in summer.
• Active throughout the day during the cooler
months. Active only in the mornings and late
afternoons when the temperature is high.

26. • Spring into the air and bound off one after the
other when frightened or when first moving
off.
• Conceal themselves amidst the grass when
wounded. Young fawns are concealed in this
manner from predators.
A concealed juvenile Males resting amidst the grass

27. Two males about to fight Two fighting males
A male leaping amongst a group of females A springing female