BARDIYA: The black antelopes, which are considered one of the endangered species in the world and are found in Bardiya’s Khairapura-based Black Antelope Conservation Centre (BACC), are falling prey to poachers with greater frequency, particularly after the ceasefire that ended the decade-long Maoist insurgency.

Citing the government’s lackadaisical attitude to the urgent need for protecting the endangered animal, the Black Antelope Conservation Management Committee has been sending out an SOS to those concerned, but with little success.

According to Committee president Mulchanda Yadav, seven male antelopes and three female antelopes were killed in the past two months. Last Sunday and Monday alone, two black antelopes were hunted down. Now, the number of black antelopes in the BACC is down to 216. Yadav says the poachers kill the animal for its navel.

Last January, the government had declared the BACC, which comes under Bardiya National Park (BNP), a conservation area. However, the government has not been able to build adequate infrastructure, and protect the antelopes and their habitat.

According to senior game scout of the BACC, Phirulal Chaudhary, the black antelopes started being killed at an increasing rate ever since a police post was set up there.

“The poachers come at night and gun down the animal. As soon as we hear a gunshot, we come out carrying a torch, but the poachers easily hide in the vast landscape,” he explained. Residents of Bardiya have expressed concern.

Across the whole country, the endangered animal is found only in Bardiya.

“Though the antelope population is decreasing, the government appears unconcerned,” he said, suggesting it should demonstrate greater responsibility for the protection of the animal, all the more so after BNP was declared a conservation area. Spread over 708 bighas, the area is open all around. Human encroachment and the lack of fencing have made poaching all the more easier. Yadav blamed the government for not allocating the funds for the conservation. The antelope feeds on maize, pea and gram but the conservation area is short of these crops and water. As a result, the animal has to wander a long way in search of food, which exposes it to a greater risk of being hunted.

The antelope has a special way of indicating that it has sensed danger or death: It

leaps three times into the air. Rakesh Basyal, chairman of Integrated Conservation and Development Centre (ICDC), an organisation working for antelope conservation, said the black antelope was in a dire need of a natural habitat.

“The government and international donors should show greater concern for antelope conservation. However, poaching has gone down drastically since we launched an awareness campaign for the villagers,” claimed Basyal.

Around 1965, three black antelopes had been spotted in the Gulariya municipality area of Bardiya district. The animal is quite at home in an open hillock.

The conservation started after a year or so.

Though the antelope population had reached 177 in 1992, it plummeted again to 39, thanks to gross neglect over the years.