Nilgai at Sariska Tiger Reserve

WildFilmsIndia 2013-10-03

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The nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus), sometimes called nilgau, is the largest Asian antelope. It is one of the most commonly seen wild animals of central and northern India, often seen in farmland or scrub forest.

The mature male appears ox-like and is also known as the blue bull. A blue bull is called a nil gai or nilgai in India, from nil meaning blue and gai meaning a bovine animal (literally 'cow'). It is also present in parts of southern Nepal and eastern Pakistan. The species has become extinct in Bangladesh. It was known as the nilghor (nil = blue, ghor = horse) during the rule of Aurangzeb in the Mughal era. It is the only member of genus Boselaphus.The nilgai has thin legs and a robust body that slopes down from the shoulder. They show marked sexual dimorphism, with only the males having horns. Adult males have a grey to bluish-grey coat, with white spots on the cheeks and white colouring on the edges of the lips. They also have a white throat bib and a narrow white stripe along the underside of the body that widens at the rear. The tips of the long, tufted tail and of the ears are black. They also possess a tubular-shaped "pennant" of long, coarse hair on the midsection of the throat.

Nilgai are habitat generalists, living in grasslands and woodlands where they eat grasses, leaves, buds, and fruit. They avoid dense forest and prefer the plains and low hills with shrubs, but may also be found in cultivated areas.

Blue bulls are usually found in their favoured areas of scrub jungle (acacia forests) grazing upon succulent kader grass. They are not averse to crossing marshlands.

The Sariska Tiger Reserve is an Indian national park located in the Alwar district of the state of Rajasthan. The topography of Sariska supports scrub-thorn arid forests, dry deciduous forests, rocks and grasses. This area was a hunting preserve of the erstwhile Alwar state and it was declared a wildlife reserve in 1955. In 1978, it was given the status of a tiger reserve making it a part of India's Project Tiger scheme. The present area of the park is 866 km². The park is situated 107 km from Jaipur and 200 km from Delhi.

The area of Sariska, being a part of the Aravalli Range, is rich in mineral resources, such as copper. In spite of the Supreme Court's 1991 ban on mining in the area, marble mining continues to threaten the environment.

Source: Wikipedia

This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of HD imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of tens of thousands of hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM / SR 1080i High Definition, Alexa, SR, HDV and XDCAM. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... Reach us at rupindang @ gmail . com and [email protected].

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