IISc study sheds light on resilience of blackbucks

Context

A new study from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), has highlighted the climate-induced disasters and human activities destroying the habitat for Blackbucks in India.

Details of the study:

Aim: IISc study sheds light on the resilience of blackbucks in the Indian sub-continent.
The team also used simulations to trace how the three present-day clusters may have evolved from their common ancestor.

The animals are mainly seen in three broad clusters across India in the regions namely;
- The Northern
- The southern and
- The eastern region
This geographic separation as well as dense human habitation between the clusters would be expected to make it difficult for them to move from one location to another.

The study involves analysing the genetic profiles of blackbucks found across the country.
They extracted and sequenced the DNA from the faecal samples to study the genetic makeup of blackbuck, and deployed computational tools to map the geographic locations with the genetic data.
Key findings:
- It was found that an ancestral blackbuck population first split into two groups: the northern and the southern cluster.
- The eastern cluster even though geographically close to the northern cluster seems to have emerged from the southern cluster.
- They also found that the male blackbuck appear to disperse more than expected, thus contributing to gene flow in this species.
- Females, on the other hand, appear to stay largely within their native population ranges, which the researchers inferred from unique mitochondrial signatures in each population.
- They analysed that the species has managed to survive in a human dense population.

About

About Blackbucks in India:

Indian Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) is an antelope and is the only living species of the genus Antilope.
It is considered to be the fastest animal in the world next to Cheetah.
The horns of the blackbuck are ringed with one to four spiral turns and the female is usually hornless.
Males have corkscrew-shaped horns and black-to-dark brown coats, while females are fawn-coloured.
Habitat:
- Blackbuck inhabits grassy plains and slightly forested areas.
- Due to its regular need for water, it prefers areas where water is perennially available.
- It is found in Central- Western India (MP, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra and Odisha) and Southern India (Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu).
Protection Status:
- Hunting of blackbuck is prohibited under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.
- It has been categorised least concerned in IUCN Red Data Book.
The Bishnoi community of Rajasthan is known worldwide for their conservation efforts for blackbuck and Chinkara.