(IN): Storm shock kills 50 black bucks

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http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090602/jsp/nation/story_11051491.jsp

Storm shock kills 50 black bucks

RAKHEE ROY TALUKDAR

 

*Jaipur, June 1: *An unseasonal thunderstorm has killed at least 50 black

bucks in a wildlife sanctuary near the Thar desert, with forest officials

claiming the easily frightened animals died of shock at the thunder and

lightning.

 

The Tal Chappar Sanctuary in Chiru district, 210km northwest of Jaipur, is

home to at least 2,000 of the most elegant black bucks, an endangered

species that actor Salman Khan was jailed for hunting.

 

Unofficial reports said some 100 animals may have died, and even officials

conceded the toll could be higher than 50 since the storm, which began on

May 29 night, was still continuing in the region.

 

Last week’s Cyclone Aila in Bengal had washed away 300 deer in the

Sunderbans, but the post-mortem reports of the Tal Chappar black bucks

suggest these animals did not drown in the flash floods caused by the heavy

rain.

 

The animals, fabled for their shy and timid nature, apparently died of heart

failure, frightened by the sudden thunder and lightning, rare in the arid

region. The dead range from seven-year-old adults to six-month-old fawns.

 

Some wildlife experts said it was hard to believe that all the black bucks

had died of heart failure, but forest officials denied any possibility of

drowning deaths caused by blocked drainage and heavy flooding.

 

“There cannot be over-flooding of the forest because when the water level

reaches two feet, it drains off. Whatever rainwater is left, collects in

small, seasonal ponds,” district forest officer K.C. Sharma said.

 

Local villagers alleged the forest authorities were late in starting rescue

operations.

 

“Rescue operations are on. Three veterinarians are trying to revive animals

that may not have died,” Sharma said.

 

Officials said it was difficult to tranquillise black bucks for treatment

because they get frightened so easily.

 

The sanctuary, dotted by shallow, low-lying areas, has a swathe of open

grassland with scattered acacia and the spiny prosopis shrubs. To its west,

separated by a watershed area, lie a cluster of hillocks and exposed slate

and quartzite rocks.

 

In the past, the sanctuary — which falls under the country’s principal arid

zone and receives erratic rainfall — used to get flooded whenever there was

heavy rain. However, with salt mining going on in the watershed, hardly any

rainwater falling on the hillocks now reaches the sanctuary.

 

The off-season rain has been a blessing in one way, Sharma said. It has

helped replenish the forest’s *mothiya *(pearl-shaped) grass, the black

bucks’ staple diet.

 

Tal Chappar is also home to migratory birds like demoiselle cranes, harriers

and short-toed eagles. The sanctuary is not as well known as Ranthambhore or

Sariska, but is being developed for wildlife tourism under a Rs 2.82-crore,

five-year plan.

 

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