This is a small species of antelope that is found in India and Nepal. the sole member of its genus Teracenus (and only sharing its tribe Boselaphini with the Nilgai). First described in 1816, it has 3 recognized subspecies. It is quite hard to find, but feeds on grass shrubs herbs foliage flowers and fruit.
They tend to hide in long grass, and the undergrowth, which is why it is only areas like this that they are usually found in.
Population estimate in 2001 was put at 10,000. While they are wide spread, they live at low densities (0.7 per square km is considered healthy).
Below is a video of this species, and below this is a list of articles on this species; this is a relatively obscure antelope, but should it be written about, you will find all these articles listed here.
There are a variety of reserves where they can be seen. including Pench Kanha and Gir to name just a few. As the website grows, we hope to link to many of these places. These will all be listed at the bottom of the page.
The Nilgai – the name translates to blue cow (it appears to be an amalgamation of Nil and Gai from Hindi), is the largest antelope to be found in Asia (both species of Eland and the roan antelope from Africa are larger). It is the sole member of the genus Boselaphus (as well as being only 1 of 2 species in the tribe Boselaphini.
Typically found either in mothers and small calf group, mothers and older calf groups, or bachelor herds. They generally have a lifespan of around 10 years. Preferring areas with scattered small bushes and trees, they are found in Indian and Nepal Terai which is a lowland area with long grass, and rich savannah. There is also a feral population in Texas, which numbers 37,000. They are not endangered at the current time.
They damage crops, which leads to them being classed as vermin in parts of their range.
The Indian population is estimated at 1 million. It is widespread in Northern India, which means that it is found in many of the best known tiger reserves, but these 2 are examples Gir National Park (Gujarat); Bandhavgarh National Park.
Bovinae is a biological family of cloven hooved family Each of these three tribes encompass a variety of species and we will deal with these tribes one by one. The Bovinae family includes all bovids, which are ruminant mammals (cloven hooved) which include all of the worlds cattle, yaks, bison, buffalo antelopes (which include goat-antelope) goats and sheep.
This family currently has 143 surviving species, with 300 known species. it has 11 major families and 13 major tribes.
This family first appeared 20 million years ago. Below is the initial splits into 3 in this family. It should be noted that not all these families will be relevant at the current time – but as destinations grow all should be fully relevant.
The second family contains one genus psuedorygina which contains one species the Saola
Bovina contains 1 Bison subgenus (it used to contain 2 but the Genus Bos became a subgenus (it should be noted there are far more subgenus that are extinct). Also, for simplicity sake, any subspecies will only be mentioned in each species page.
Subgenus Bos poephagus Bison & Bos Bibos
Bos is domestic cattle
_Taurus originate in Africa, _Mutus=wild Yak, Bos_Indicus Domestic cattle Originate in Himilayas Originate in India, fatty hump (first on second row) and Aurochs
Finally tribe Tragelaphini or spiral horned antelope contains 5 genus. The first 4 contain 1 species (in order) the last genus has 3 species. If I cover subspecies these will be in their own pages
Genus Ammelaphus Genus Nyala Genus Tragelaphus Genus Taurotragus Genus Strepsiceros
Bovidae family (including Aegodontia &Boodontia) or Antelope family tree
Antelope lie in the Bovidae family, and account for around 2/3 of the 135 Bovidae species that exist in the world. It should be noted that deer come from the family Cervidae, which means that despite looking extremely similar, antelope are more closely related to cattle than they are to deer.
There are 91 antelope species in the world with 72 found in Africa, 14 in Asia, with the last 5 found in Eastern Europe.
If you want to return to the Ruminants family page click here
Caprinae
The Caprinae family is a close relation of Alcelaphinae & Hippotraginae (subfamily 4 and 5 on this page) but this family consists of the worlds goats and sheep.
This consists of 9 genus with just 1 species in each (and one further extinct so not included here) and then 5 genus with more than that.
Firstly dealing with each genus with only one species.
This website aims to make it easy for those living with wildlife, and those who would like to see it, to find each other. Where-ever the wildlife, if the local people do not benefit it will not survive. Please note, on some computers these maps can take 10 seconds to load.
Explore the worlds wilds, through the map above (each country contains a list of any wild areas within it – world maps for each fo these can be found at the top of the page -“wild places, “shadow of mankind”, “Hides”, “Future places” & “sightings board”), or the species in the expandable section below. Add your destinations, by clicking on “list your wild”. Scroll down to read our latest wild news.
River Gambia Niokolokoba National Park Credit: United states Government
A fascination reserve with a wide range of wildlife, this is a place well worth a visit. With a variety of habitats, the range of wildlife that can be seen is not usually available in one reserve anywhere else.
The national park is known for its wildlife. The government of Senegal estimates the park contains 20 species of amphibians, 60 species of fish, 38 species of reptiles (of which four are tortoises). There are some 80 mammal species. These included (as of 2005) an estimated 11000 buffaloes, 6000 hippopotamuses, 400 western giant eland, 50 elephants, 120 lions, 150 chimpanzees (It is inhabited by a banded forest in the park (Lower Rim) and Mount Assirik. (north-western limit line where chimps are distributed.)), 3000 waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus), 2000 common duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia), an unknown number of red colobus (Colobus badius rufomitratus) and a few rare African leopards and West African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus manguensis), although this canid was thought to be wiped out throughout the rest of the country.[4]
Other mammals include roan antelope, Guinea baboon, green monkey, patas monkey, warthog.
Around 330 species of birds have been sighted in the park, notably the Arabian bustard, black crowned crane, Abyssinian ground hornbill (Bucorvus abyssinicus), martial eagle, bateleur (Terathopius ecaudatus), and white-faced duck (Dendrocygna viduata).
There are also reptiles such as three species of crocodiles, four species of tortoises
Victoria Falls national park, Zimbabwe, Part of KAZA transfrontier park
One of natures greatest spectacles, the Victoria falls lie within the national park that takes its name, and in turn is part of the vast Kalahari Zambezi Transfrontier park. The area around the falls contains a wealth of wildlife, Covering a total area of 56 000 hectares, both parks lie on the southern bank of the Zambezi River which forms the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. There are a number of picnic and fishing sites available. Activities include guided tours, walks, day and sunset cruises, game drives and adventure activities.
The Rainforest – Here visitors can see unique flora and fauna. Bird species and small mammals may be spotted beneath the forest canopy whilst following the paths through the groves of Date Palm, Fig and Mahogany.
The Game Park – Elephant, Lion, Buffalo, Leopard and White Rhino (the Big Five) can be seen in the park as well as herds of Eland, Sable Antelope, Zebra, Giraffe, Waterbuck and Kudu amongst other smaller species. The Zambezi River is known for its Bream and Tiger Fishing. There are two game drive routes, one accessed through the main gate and the other from just outside town on the Bulawayo road.
While relatively small at only 85 square miles or 221 square kilometres, due to its proximity to Cape town it is one of the most visited national parks in South Africa.
A surprisingly large variety of wildlife is found there, given the size of the reserve. Apart from a sizable and growing colony of African penguins, there is also bontebok antelope, and a large population of baboons. Other species include rock dassies (hyrax), porcupines, mongoose, snakes, lizards, tortoise and a rare species called the table mountain ghost frog which is only found here. While once a big 5 reserve, only the leopard is ever present, and this is only an occasional visit by the roaming cape leopard. The current apex predator is the Caracal, which is a relatively small cat when compared to the Leopard.
Other than this the retrogresses and a handful of wild ostrich. During the meeting season between August and October it also can be a good place to watch southern right whales which come here to breed.
All species are important, often reintroductions have failed because a small unnoticed animal was missed. Over time, we will amass pages for as many species as possible. However, just as important is seeing how species are closely related. As such as well as looking at species from a specific ecosystem or family, we will also include family trees of many of the families on earth. It should be noted, that this is to help you find wildlife you wish to see, so will never link to every species. In either way, these links to these will be placed at the top.
Original paper - OrthoMaM: A database of orthologous genomic markers for placental mammal phylogenetics. Ranwez V., Delsuc F., Ranwez S., Belkhir K., Tilak M. & Douzery E. J. P. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 2007, 7 : 241.
The Kazakstan population of these antelope has more than doubled in the last 2 years from 334,000 to 842,000. In 2015 there was a mass die-off and distressing images of the steppe strewn with bodies made the rounds. Thankfully, the mothers give birth to twins every year, so their ability to bounce back is impressive.
Back during the Soviet era there were many millions of these antelope, but with increasing development in their range a return to those days is highly unlikely.
With numbers like these of remaining individuals, one would be forgiven for thinking that these species is not critically endangered, or perhaps even endangered. However, these terms are applied based on percentage fall in the size of the population. Saiga antelope have suffered a 90% decline in their population at the end of the 20th century.
So long as there is not another mass die-off and poaching is kept under control, these animals are likely to recover, and continue to be the base of an extremely large food chain.
