About the Nilgai
The nilgai is Asia's largest antelope — a tall, horse-like creature with a distinctive blue-grey coat in bulls and tawny-brown in females. Found across the plains and open forests of north and central India, the nilgai is the most commonly seen large mammal in many national parks. Its name means 'blue cow' in Hindi, and because it resembles cattle and is considered sacred by Hindus in some communities, it has historically been protected from hunting in ways that other wildlife was not.
Nilgai prefer open terrain — scrubland, grassland, and the edges of agricultural land — and have adapted well to human-modified landscapes. Outside protected areas they are often considered crop pests in UP, Bihar, and Haryana, where they cause significant agricultural damage. Adult bull nilgai develop a striking blue-grey coat and a tuft of dark hair on the throat. Despite their large size, nilgai can gallop at up to 48 km/h and jump over 1.8 metres — making them difficult to contain with standard agricultural fencing.