Though the Indian blackbuck is small, it is one of the world’s most striking creatures. Females and young males are tan and white, and mature males are almost jet-black on top and snowy white on the bottom, with a white muzzle and large white circles around the eyes. The horns, too, are spectacular, growing in spirals, sort of like a kudu, but also heavily ringed throughout most of their length. Unlike the kudu, and Africa’s other spiral horns, the blackbuck’s horns continue to corkscrew, and three and sometimes four complete turns are possible.
The blackbuck is a creature of open plains and scrub forest. Once extremely plentiful in appropriate habitat in India, Nepal, and Pakistan, blackbuck numbers were greatly reduced, but it has also been introduced into numerous areas, including…
