Nilgai
I.U.C.N status
International Union for Conservation of Nature
Identity card
Grasses and herbaceous plants.
Did you know?
The nilgai, although commonly called an “antelope”, is not part of the true antelopes as it belongs to the bovine subfamily. Its name comes from Sanskrit, where “neela” means blue and “gov” refers to the cow. Its coat is short, with a yellow-brown hue in females and blue-grey in adult males.
Threats and conservation
The nilgai, widely distributed, often causes significant damage to crops, making it considered a pest in northern India, where it can be hunted. However, its resemblance to the cow, a sacred animal for Hindus, sometimes allows it to be spared depending on the region. Introduced to Texas in the 1920s and 1930s, individuals escaped and today form a wild population of approximately 30,000 nilgai in the United States.
