The grass-eating hard ground barasingha gives conservationists a lot to cheer about following a slow but sure increase in its almost extinct population at the Kanha Tiger Reserve.
A barasingha female and a fawn at the Kanha Tiger Reserve. The fawn has spots at birth and is often confused with a chital.Photo: Sanjay K. Shukla
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The Barasingha population of three subspecies—the hard ground barasingha endemic to Kanha, the northern subspecies and the north-eastern subspecies—is faced with many challenges, resulting in a low growth rate.Photo: Sanjay K. Shukla
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A full-grown stag with the characteristic 12-point antler configuration.Photo: Sudhir Mishra
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Grassland and a waterbody, an ideal habitat for the graminivore, at Kanha.Photo: Sudhir Mishra
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In the past, populations of this deer occurred across undivided Madhya Pradesh and in Maharashtra, Bihar, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.Photo: Anant Zanjale
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The northern subspecies in a swamp, its natural habitat, at the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh. Each subspecies differs slightly from the other morphologically.Photo: Dudhwa Tiger Reserve
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A barasingha herd at the Kanha Tiger Reserve, which supports typical central Indian sal forests and grassy plains.Photo: Sudhir Mishra
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A tigress watching a herd of barasingha in the distance.Photo: Sudhir Mishra
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Jackals go for selective predation of newborns, upsetting the recruitment of the barasingha.Photo: Anant Zanjale
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An alert herd, though its anti-predator reflexes are relatively slow.Photo: Suresh Deshmukh
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Pythons can sometimes upset the number of fawns in protected areas.Photo: Anant Zanjale
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The north-eastern barasingha in the Kaziranga National Park in Assam.Photo: Kaziranga Tiger Reserve
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Kanha is a combination of beauty and biodiversity.Photo: Abhishek Singh
