page_title: Blackbuck
section_title: Diet
hierarchical_section_title: Blackbuck / Ecology and behaviour / Diet
caption_attribution_description: Español: Antílope de la India macho (Antilope cervicapra) en el zoológico de Santacruz, Cundinamarca, Colombia.
context_page_description: The blackbuck, also known as the Indian antelope, is an antelope found in India, Nepal, and Pakistan. The blackbuck is the sole extant member of the genus Antilope. The species was described and given its binomial name by Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Two subspecies are recognized. It stands up to 74 to 84 cm high at the shoulder. Males weigh 20–57 kg, an average of 38 kilograms. Females are lighter, weighing 20–33 kg or 27 kg on average. The long, ringed horns, 35–75 cm long, are generally present only on males, though females may develop horns, as well. The white fur on the chin and around the eyes is in sharp contrast with the black stripes on the face. The coats of males show two-tone colouration; while the upper parts and outsides of the legs are dark brown to black, the underparts and the insides of the legs are all white. However, females and juveniles are yellowish fawn to tan.
  The blackbuck is a diurnal antelope. Three kinds of groups, typically small, are the female, male, and bachelor herds. Males often adopt lekking as a strategy to garner females for mating.
context_section_description: Being herbivores, blackbuck graze on low grasses, occasionally browsing as well. They prefer sedges, fall witchgrass, mesquite, and live oak. They have occasionally been observed browsing on acacia trees in the Cholistan Desert. Oats and berseem were found to be palatable and nutritious to captive populations in a study. A study in the Velavadar Black Buck Sanctuary (Gujarat, India) showed that Dichanthium annulatum comprised 35 percent of their diet. Digestion of nutrients, especially crude proteins, was poor in summer, but more efficient in the rainy and winter seasons. Consequently, crude protein intake in summer was very low, even below the recommended value. Blackbuck had a lower food consumption in summer. The fruits of Prosopis juliflora are often eaten, and blackbuck may play a role in their dispersal. Prosopis becomes a significant food item if grasses are scarce. Water is a daily requirement of the blackbuck.
caption: Blackbuck prefer grasses.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSC-HX100V", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2012:11:12 10:59:37", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "272", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail ImageDescription": "", "Thumbnail Make": "SONY", "Thumbnail Model": "DSC-HX100V", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail DateTime": "2012:11:12 10:59:37", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "13520", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "12490", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "800", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "800", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:11:12 10:59:37", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:11:12 10:59:37", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "3101/640", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "2211/25", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4608", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3456", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "13242", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[24/5, 144, 14/5, 28/5]"}