Nilgais

Context:

=> The Bihar government has announced that it will not cull the Blue Bull, locally known as the nilgai or ghurparas, anymore.

• It will, instead, sterilise them to control their increasing population in the state.

Key Points:

=> The nilgai is the largest Asian antelope and is ubiquitous across the northern Indian subcontinent.

=> The nilgai is the sole member of the genus Boselaphus and placed in the family Bovidae.

=> Sexual dimorphism is prominent; the males are larger than females and differ in colouration.

=> It occurs in India, Nepal, and Pakistan. Significant numbers occur in the Terai lowlands in the foothills of the Himalayas.

=> It is indigenous to the Indian subcontinent.

=> IUCN status: Least Concern.