On the strut- the reigning king of the Bidar Blackbucks

[Shyamala Kumar]

Canon 60D 100-400MM FL400MM ISO800 F5.6 1/1600S SEPT EVENING 2013

[Roopak Gangadharan]

Nice pose and it is certainly strutting..I recently saw a group of black bucks along with a larger group of cheetal in mudumalai.

TFS
Roopak

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Lovely pose. Second best after the 'Great Leap' action, in my view. Thanks for sharing.SaktiWild

[Shyamala Kumar]

Thanks Saktipadaji and Roopak. These blackbucks belong to the reserved forests around Bidar which are not open to the general public.But they do come out to feed in the beautiful meadows adjoining the forests but which are limited on one side by the walls of the Indian Air Force station of Bidar.So I did catch the blackbuck doing the great leap but against the background of the wall so I am unable to post it.Next visit I hope to catch it against the forest background

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Shyamala,
You have captured a nice pose. This male has got a good pair of horns. They move fast. Some time back I was trying to film these blackbucks and it was indeed a challenge as the male was chasing the females around.

Roopak,
Good to hear that you sighted blackbucks in Mudumalai. Haven't been there for a long time. I hadn't heard of blackbucks there. TNA Perumal was once telling me that a few kilometers from bangalore one could see blackbucks in those days and they were kind of everywhere. Alas!

[Rajan Kanagasabai]

Hi Sabyasachi

Roopak is right. Of late there are some of these bucks that have made Mudumalai their home. The rangers tell me that they have moved in from neighboring Thengumarada (on the Sathyamangalam range) which has always been know for the density of black bucks over the years.

Hope they thrive in Mudumalai and may their clan grow in numbers . . .

regards
Rajan

[Shyamala Kumar]

Thank you all for the appreciation .Will be posting a few more in due course.Rgds

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

I do not have any knowledge about the area. Krishnan has written in 70's as under:

'Blackbuck do not inhabit dense forests or hill country. An isolated population existed, or still survives in small numbers, immediately outside Masinagudi area of Mudumalai Sanctuary, on the north-eastern slopes of the Nilgiris where it flatten out into plains country.'

Does Bidar fall near or within the territory he has mentioned above? Thanks all for exchanging views.SaktiWild

[Rajan Kanagasabai]

Hi

If my memory is right, we did visit Bidar almost 10 years ago from Hyderabad.

So, if it is the same Bidar, then this is the north-eastern side of Karnataka, while Masinagudi is almost near the southern tip of the Karnataka borders.

regards
Rajan