Wildlife biologist Sanjay Gubbi and his team of conservationists from the Nature Conservation Foundation were surprised to see the chinkara caught on camera in the Bukkapatna State Forest at Sira taluk in Tumakuru district, as they are known to roam only in the north Karnataka region.
The cameras — placed in the forests to track the movement of leopards — got the shy and docile chinkara in its sights.
With this, the chinkaras’ presence has been photo-documented for the first time in south Karnataka.
This antelope species, also called the Indian gazelle and ‘Sanna Hulle’ in Kannada, lives in arid areas, the Savannahs, and subtropical light forests.
It is known to exist in very few numbers in Pakistan and Iran. However, hunting has brought down their numbers there, as per the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). In India, chinkaras are protected under the Schedule-I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Of the six species of antelopes found in India, three — chinkara, blackbuck, and the four-horned antelope — are found in Karnataka. Bukkapatna is perhaps the only documented place in the State to have all three species.
This study on leopards is giving interesting results.
Last year the Ratel or honey badger was first photo documented in Karnataka under this project in Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary.
The Sanna Hulle as it is known in Kannada to roam only in the north Karnataka region
