Gestation lasts eight to nine months, following which a single calf (sometimes twins or even triplets) is born. The time of the year when mating takes place varies geographically, but a peak breeding season lasting three to four months can be observed at most places. Females become sexually mature by two years, while males do not become sexually active until four or five years old. Herbivores, nilgai prefer grasses and herbs, though they commonly eat woody plants in the dry tropical forests of India. Typically tame, the nilgai may appear timid and cautious if harassed or alarmed it flees up to 300 m (980 ft), or even 700 m (2,300 ft), galloping away from the source of danger. ![]() The animals band together in three distinct kinds of groups: one or two females with young calves, three to six adult and yearling females with calves, and all-male groups with two to 18 members. The nilgai is diurnal (active mainly during the day). Sexual dimorphism is prominent – while females and juveniles are orange to tawny, adult males have a bluish-grey coat. A column of pendant coarse hair hangs from the dewlap ridge below the white patch. A sturdy thin-legged antelope, the nilgai is characterised by a sloping back, a deep neck with a white patch on the throat, a short crest of hair along the neck terminating in a tuft, and white facial spots. ![]() It is the sole member of the genus Boselaphus, which was first described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1766. The nilgai ( Boselaphus tragocamelus) ( / ˈ n i l ˌ ɡ aɪ/, literally meaning "blue cow") is the largest antelope of Asia, and is ubiquitous across the northern Indian subcontinent. Tragelaphus hippelaphus ( Ogilby, 1838).Boselaphus picta ( de Blainville, 1816).
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