Nature Diary

Nilgai

	Nilgai literally means blue cow in Hindi. Nilgai is a variety of antelope, so they are grass-eating herbivores. They are the biggest of Asian antelopes. Nilgai is a commonly seen wild animal of northern India although they occur as far south as Karnataka.
	Nilgai stand 1.2-1.5 meters tall at the shoulder and are 1.8-2 meters long. Their tails are 40-45 centimeters long. Mature nilgai typically weigh 120-240 kilograms. They can live as long as 21 years.
	Nilgai have thin legs and a robust body that slopes down from the shoulder. The adult males appear ox-like, with permanent horns. Their long, narrow heads are topped by two small conical horns which are straight and tilted slightly forward.
	Female nilgai have a short yellow-brown coat. Males' coats gradually darken to a grey-blue as they reach maturity. This is the likely reason for their name. They have white spots on the cheeks and white coloring on the edges of the lips.
	Nilgai can be found in single sex or mixed sex herds of 4-20, although old bulls are sometimes solitary.
	Nilgai are diurnal and live in grasslands and woodlands where they eat grasses, leaves, buds, and fruit. So the Nilgai is regarded as a crop menace, causing large-scale damages especially along the gangetic belt. However, because of their name, they are also considered sacred, like cows, and are protected to a certain extent.
	They avoid dense forest and prefer to stay in the plains and low hills with shrubs.
	A blue bull can survive for days without water, but they live close to waterholes. You can come across them wandering along the open banks of rivers such as the Ganga. Their population has spread in Rajasthan along with the increase in the number of irrigation canals in the Thar desert.
	The main threat to this species is the loss of habitat due to human population growth.
	The picture (taken by Kaumaran Sathasivam) shows a young Nilgai roaming in a village.