Sole blackbuck with bent horn in herd of thousands!

VADODARA: If you happen to visit Velavadar blackbuck national park, try and spot an antelope that will be seen mostly grazing alone. Don’t be surprised by its self exile as the blackbuck is inflicted with a rare horn disorder — a bent right horn pointing downwards.
Wildlife enthusiast Kartik Upadhyay, who spotted the male blackbuck for the first time earlier this year, studied extensively on the anomaly.
“I was a bit surprised and began studying about the antelopes to ascertain if such anomalies have been spotted in the state in the past. It is for the first time that such a blackbuck has been spotted in Gujarat,” Upadhyay told TOI.
Upadhyay, who co-authored a paper on ‘Horn anomalies in the blackbuck antelope with Dr Raju Vyas, which has been published recently in the Journal of Animal Diversity, said, “A blackbuck’s horn grows upwards and is very strong. With one horn bent, this blackbuck can’t take on other males in a direct fight. Also, it becomes tough for such antelope to win a female. So, it stays away from the herd and is seen strolling alone in the vast grassland at Velavadar.”
“There may be various reasons including genetic anomalies for this blackbuck having an abnormal horn. It is observed in antelopes that testicular injuries during fights sometimes cause changes in its body. Also, hormonal imbalance too is said to develop horn abnormalities. The exact reason behind such an anomaly can’t be ascertained,” Vyas, a herpetologist, said.
The paper also talks about female blackbucks having horns. “Female blackbucks usually don’t have horns. In the past, four cases of female blackbucks having horns were recorded in India including one at Velavadar park in 1984 and then in 2020.”