Food habits of Nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus) in Van Vihar National Park, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India
Saheel Ahmad Bhat, Sanjay Telang, Muzaffar Ahmad Wani and Khursheed Ahmad SheikhDepartment of Zoology, Government Benazir Science and Commerce College, Bhopal (India).
Abstract: The food plants of nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus) were studied by direct field observations between July 2010 and June 2011 in Van Vihar National Park, Bhopal with an aim to explore the composition of diet, preferable browse plant species and seasonal variation in diet consumption. The results have shown that food plants of nilgai consists of diverse species of plants (123 plants species). On an average, grass formed major proportion (41.66%), followed by fallen leaves, flowers and fruits (36.00%), browse (16.66%) and herbs, shrubs etc (5.66%). Among the preferred browse species zizyphus mauritiana had the highest preference rating (5.5). The diet of the nilgai varied from season to season. Extension of the area of the National Park, creation of more grass plots and plantation of more trees would make more grass and browse species available to nilgai ultimately leading to an increase in its population.
Keywords: Ungulate; nilgai; Boselaphus tragocamelus; food habits; mixed feeder; preference rating Back to TOC