10 blackbucks released into Balukhand Wildlife Sanctuary

The Odisha Forest Department reintroduced a rare species of blackbucks popularly known as ‘krushnasara’ at the Balukhand Wildlife Sanctuary in the Konark area of the Puri district on Wednesday. The rare animal had almost become extinct in the sanctuary.

As part of a special scheme of the Odisha government, as many as 10 numbers of the rare species from Nandankanan Zoo in Bhubaneswar were released into the sanctuary.

As per reports, six of the released Blackbucks are female. The animals will be kept in quarantine inside a special enclosure in the 30-hectare forest area. After being kept in quarantine for a month, the health conditions of the animals will be examined. A special team will keep a watch on the blackbucks during the quarantine period.

As per sources, if the project becomes successful, more blackbucks will be released in the sanctuary to increase their population.

“Balukhand wildlife sanctuary was mainly set up for the protection of blackbucks. However, the animals gradually became extinct locally in the sanctuary as their habitat was converted to agricultural land. They were also attacked by the stray dogs in the area,” said PCCF Susanta Nanda.

“As per the species recovery programme of the Union government and the State government, effort is being made to recover the locally extinct animals. After getting permission from the Union government, we have transferred some Blackbucks from Nandankanan Zoo to the Balukhand Wildlife Sanctuary,” he added.