Study on the Population Dynamics and Habitat Occupancy of Blackbuck (Antilope Cervicapra) in Ganjam District, Odisha, India

The habitat use and spreading of blackbuck population was studied during a Government of India funded research project during the Feb-1998 to March 2005 in Balipadar- Bhetnoi blackbuck reserve, Ganjam district, southern Odisha, India. The seasonal variation in vegetation abundance especially in herbs, shrubs and low height scrubs and trees are greatly marked. The topography of the study area is undulated with highlands ranging from 20mts MSL to 100 mts MSL The district receives rainfall of 1551.6mm in interior to 1148.6mm of rainfall in the coastal area. But the area shows severe dryness and most of the habitat behaves semi-arid conditions during the summer season. The overall dryness during summer causes in shrinkage of forage grounds. The animal did movement in greater area in search of forage and water. Some times the animal are confined to the water bodies like small to medium check dams, stream beds and low laying area in the cropland habitat. The migration pattern of these animals depends on the topography, vegetation cover, terrine and rainfall (flooding) and different anthropological pressures. The local people do not harm to the beautiful and harmless animal. They protect blackbuck in a socio- religious aspect and conservation starts a century ago. The past distribution area was so small that to the present distribution. The animal congregate to so large herds during mass forage after post harvest of paddy crops. The blackbuck did assemblage in large numbers touching hundred of individuals in open countryside cropland habitat. The diurnal activity pattern including the group structure also changed according to the vegetation pattern and environmental factors in different seasons. Keywords: foraging pattern, blackbuck, habitat, vegetation pattern, rainfall, topography, cropping pattern, terrine, environmental factors, migration