An exciting record of wildlife has been documented for Karnataka from Tumakuru district. Chinkara also called as the Indian gazelle (Gazella bennettii) has been recorded from Bukkapatna State Forest (153 km2) in Sira taluka of Tumakuru district. The record was made under a study on leopards carried out by wildlife biologist Sanjay Gubbi of Nature Conservation Foundation and his team. The study uses camera trapping for understanding leopard numbers in various parts of the state.
Chinkara called as ‘sanna hulle’ in Kannada was thought to sparsely exist only in northern Karnataka in areas bordering Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Very little is known about its distribution within Karnataka and it normally occurs in arid areas, deserts, savannahs and subtropical light forests. This is the first ever confirmation of this species for southern Karnataka and it is surprising that it occurs as south as Tumakuru district. This is perhaps the second only photo-documentation of the species from Karnataka. Part of Bukkapatna forest falls within Gubbi taluk hence it is possible that chinkara is found in Gubbi taluka as well. In addition, Bukkapatna forests abut Suvarnamukhi Reserved Forest that falls under Chitradurga district where chinkara was seen, confirming its presence in Chitradurga district as well.
This antelope species is known to exist in India, and in very few numbers in Pakistan and Iran. It is almost decimated in Pakistan and Iran due to overhunting as per the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. In India, chinkara is protected under Schedule-I of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 giving it utmost protection.
Apart from hunting for meat and trophies, the species is also losing ground due to extensive conversion of grasslands to agriculture and industrial development, and predation from feral dogs. Areas like Bukkapatna are more and more threatened by wind energy projects.
Of the six species of antelopes found in India, three species the chinkara, blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) and the four-horned antelope (Tetracerus quadricornis) are found in Karnataka. Bukkapatna has all these three antelope species, and perhaps the only documented place in Karnataka that has all these three antelope 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.
An edited version of this news was published in April 2015 in local newspapers in Kannada
http://www.mgrtv.com/indian-gazelle-spotted-tumakuru.html
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