Talk:Nilgai

Inappropriate tone and Content: Parts of the article (added by an anonymous user) are in first person, and belong more on a hunting advocacy website than an encyclopedia. The only reason I didn't reverse those edits is that there may be some useful content in those edits. However, I cannot verify whether it is accurate, and hence cannot decide on whether they should stay. rajneesh 08:34, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Factual errors and self contradictory: The article also seems to have some factual errors too. For example the population of Nilgai in India (10,000 or 100,000+)??. Needs to be verified Vyzasatya 17:33, 30 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Here is the permission e-mail I got from Brent Huffman (manager of www.ultimateungulate.com ) to use the Nilgai distribution image

Ravi, Thank you for your email - I apologize for this delayed response, but I have been overwhelmed with work this past week. As long as proper credit is given, I have absolutely no problem with letting you use the nilgai map, or any other material from the website.

Thanks, Brent Huffman Manager, UUP --Vyzasatya 8 July 2005 17:04 (UTC)

English Translation

Translate the "Nilgali in Texas" section into English, please.

Nilgai, Is it on Asiatic Lion's Menu / Diet ????

The nilgai is the largest ungulate in the lion's range. But it looks like asiatic lions never prey on Nilgai. Is Nilgai too much for the lion? It is for leopard. Asiatic lions, unlike African lions, hunt in solitary. --S-- —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 60.229.224.250 (talk) 09:51, 5 December 2006 (UTC).

How do you know that lions dont prey on nilgai?--Altaileopard 09:01, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

I used to researched Asian lions' preys for quite a while, and Nilgai never showed up on the menu. --S--

Do you have sources (papers ect.) or is it just your feeling?--Altaileopard 09:29, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

"Nilgai" is definately on the "Diet list" of Asiatic Lions which do prey on them as well:

Nilgai was definately a regular menu item in the diet of Asiatic Lions, all over the Indian subcontinent. Asiatic Lions were found over a large area of the Indian subcontinent till about 150 to 300 years ago, but Asiatic Lions were killed off everywhere in Asia and in the Indian subcontinent, now they only survive in one and only small Gir Forest in Gujarat India. Their grassland habitat specially in India was converted over the last centuary and a half over to farmland almost completely due to phenominal growth in Indian subcontinent's population. Nilgai or literal Hindi meaning "Blue Cow" - English name Blue Bull looks very much like a Cow, as it is a well know fact that Hindus hold cows "Holy", so now what has happened is since Hindus hold all cows holy and never kill a cow, Nilgais are found in increasing numbers all over in India, its amazing how everything else has gone, the grass land habitat and most of its animals are now extinct locally in most of Indian subcontinent, Asiatic Cheetah is completely extinct in India (and all over Asia but the last 50-60 remain in Iran) for the same reason BUT the Nilgai is found everywhere in India. Its strange since nobody killed them out they today exixt even in small wild patches which have been encirled within mushrooming Indian cities (Also I have seen them in the Indian Capital of New Delhi) and ofcourse Nilgais is found all over India in farmers fields. They have become a major pest species, they destroy crops worth millions but villagers still refuse to kill them, they just keep scaring / chasing them away from field to field. Some Indian states like Punjab and Maharashtra have declared them a pest species locally and issue permits even today to those who want to hunt this specie as well as Wild Boars which have also reached pest proportions and destroy crops.

Now, as to why it seems as if Nilgai are not on "Asiatic Lion's" Diet, it can be easily explained, the "Asiatic Lion" today only survives in Gir Forest, though the Nilgais occur there there is much easier prey namely the "cattle" and domesticated "water buffalos" of local Maldhari a forest dwelling cattle based tribe.

Some References:

HISTORY (Asiatic Lion)

“Wildlife conservation programme for the Asiatic Lion was started by the forest Department from September 1965 with the declaration of 1265.01 sq. km area as sanctuary which was expanded up to 1412.1 sq. km till date. With implementation of wildlife management and Gir Development Scheme, population of lions increased gradually from 177 in 1968 to 359 in 2005. Similarly, herbivore population of major animals (Cheetal, Sambar, Nilgai, Wild boar, Four horned Antelope, Chinkara etc.) has also increased from abut 38221 in 1995 to 49965 in 2005.”

Continues…

Source: http://www.asiaticlion.org/asiatic-lion-history.htm

HUMAN ANIMAL CONFLICT (Asiatic Lion)

“Historical records show that lion in the Gir preyed mainly on the domestic livestock of Maldharis (Joslin 1973, Berwick 1974), which constituted nearly 75% of their diet. However the latest studies conducted by Dr. R. M. Naik, Ravi Chellam and A.J.T. Johnsingh (1993) have shown that 36% of the kills are still from domestic livestock. Therefore, the domestic livestock contribute significantly to the lion’s food in Gir forests. The reason for this may be the fact that the Maldhari “Nesses” are located along valleys in flat to gently undulating terrains where domestic livestock provide an easy kill compared to the wild herbivores which being swifter, may escape into the more rugged zones of the forest.”

Continues…

Source: http://www.asiaticlion.org/food-dependency.htm

OTHER MAMMALS in Gir Forest http://www.asiaticlion.org/other-animals-mammas.htm

Asiatic Lion Info included in African Lion Factsheet:

DIET: “Gir lions feed mainly on chital deer - occasionally sambar, nilgai and domestic stock.”

Source: http://library.sandiegozoo.org/Fact%20Sheets/lion_african/lion_african.htm#diet http://library.sandiegozoo.org/Fact%20Sheets/lion_african/lion_african.htm

This discussion has been copyed by me from the discussion on the Asiatic Lion discussion page.

Atulsnischal 01:24, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

Horns

Nilgai - in India, only grow horns if they are males. This is not clear from the article. Also, the pictures do not seem to fit with the kind I see everyday in India in a national forest. 220.224.42.244 16:23, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Possible images to use

These two images were recently removed from Tiger, which I think makes sense as they do not depict any tigers but merely the result of their hunting and feeding activity. I do not know if they really belong in this article, either, but I present them here as they are now unused and this appears to be a more or less relevant article. The first image caption has a reference that would appear in an article with a proper reference section. --Icarus ^(Hi!) 06:15, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

Lithograph (based on photograph) showing a bull Nilgai killed and partly eaten by a tigress and two cubs. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 1888.

The same bull nilgai after the second meal by the tigress and two cubs. JBNHS, 1888.

Hmmm I think you can hardly see the nilgai.--Altaileopard (talk) 17:38, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

References

I'm switching around the pictures a bit

I am replacing the title image (of a pair of males fighting) with another showing a female cantering across the frame. There is a lot more detail and the markings of the animal are a much clearer. There weren't too many decent pictures in the Commons, so I went out and took one :) Rushil2u (talk) 07:29, 21 December 2014 (UTC)

Any other name ?

Tell me, is the animal also known as "Roz" in hindustani?  Jon Ascton  (talk)

Yes, रोझ (rojh) in Hindi.

94.209.115.0 (talk) 14:05, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Nilgai/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: Shyamal (talk · contribs) 14:56, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Will need a bit of time to read through. Will post my comments soon. Shyamal (talk) 14:56, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Thanks for taking up this review! It has been a while since I worked on this, and I have learnt a lot since then. I will copyedit it a bit. Sainsf (talk · contribs) 15:22, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Lead

• neelghae or nilgau - I am not convinced that these names should be included the lead (or bolded as they are not incoming links either) - they sound like bad English transcriptions.

Removed

• The phonetic transcription does not look right (I believe it should be /ni:lga:ɪ/)

I got it from the Merriam Webster dictionary. I am not sure about these pronunciations, though.

verified that, will check if there is a suitable Hindi-English dictionary alternative.

Structure

• A lot of the etymology is actually taxonomy - could be reorganized and is better located after the taxonomic introduction

Should I shift the first para of Etymology to the Taxonomy section and make it the 2nd para there?

I have tried to reduce some of the confusion by changing the section headings and moving some paras. Please see if this is acceptable.

Thanks, that looks better. But the part in Taxonomy as of now, The generic name Boselaphus...and kamelos ("camel"), seems to belong more to Etymology. Sainsf (talk · contribs) 07:00, 28 May 2016 (UTC)

Taxonomy = the naming of taxa (which implicitly includes an element of etymology). An alternative is to merge the current etymology as a last part of the taxonomy section - after all taxonomy does not mean just the Latin binomial but also the folk taxonomic nomenclature. Shyamal (talk) 07:41, 28 May 2016 (UTC)

I get it. Sainsf (talk · contribs) 08:10, 28 May 2016 (UTC)

• Some of the content in "Interaction with human beings" seem to be more suited for "Threats and conservation"

I see, you mean the 20th century hunting and crop damage? I am confused how to separate them out, could you please help? Sainsf (talk · contribs) 07:19, 16 May 2016 (UTC)

Content and sourcing

• "Coyotes and dholes generally attack juveniles" - I think it is worth separating the situation in India and the situation in introduced areas should not be a priority.

I am not sure what you mean. I try to identify local predators by their location wherever possible, but here I am not sure if this is the situation in the wild or in captivity.

Coyotes do not occur in India. Shyamal (talk) 06:56, 28 May 2016 (UTC)

Looking at the source, "coyote" is not mentioned, it focuses on the situation in India. Someone else may have added it, removed for now. Sainsf (talk · contribs) 08:10, 28 May 2016 (UTC)

• tubular tuft, pennant - I am unable to find a reliable source for calling this "tubular" it is a small tuft of hair along the dewlap ridge. Again unable to see a technical reference using the word "pennant" for this. (The most likely scenario appears to be misspelling of hair pendant as used in some old descriptions (example 12)

Switched to pendant. I wonder how "tubular" came in, removed. Sainsf (talk · contribs) 07:19, 16 May 2016 (UTC)

• I have made several edits, please check if there is anything badly messed up in the process. Shyamal (talk) 10:11, 29 May 2016 (UTC)

I have checked them, they have indeed improved the article. Thanks a lot. Sainsf (talk · contribs) 10:15, 29 May 2016 (UTC)

Review

• Overall this passes GA criteria. For FA, this needs to improve on structure and include more on diseases, parasites and cover several other aspects in ecology. There is a lot more to incorporate in cultural relations as well apart from the politics of renaming it.

GA review (see here for what the criteria are, and here for what they are not)

1. It is reasonably well written.

   a (prose, spelling, and grammar): b (MoS for lead, layout, word choice, fiction, and lists):

2. It is factually accurate and verifiable.

   a (reference section): b (citations to reliable sources): c (OR): d (copyvio and plagiarism):

3. It is broad in its coverage.

   a (major aspects): b (focused):

4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.

   Fair representation without bias:

5. It is stable.

   No edit wars, etc.:

6. It is illustrated by images and other media, where possible and appropriate.

   a (images are tagged and non-free content have fair use rationales): b (appropriate use with suitable captions):

7. Overall:

   Pass/Fail:

Thank you. I will remember those points if I plan an FAC for this. Sainsf (talk · contribs) 13:26, 29 May 2016 (UTC)

Etymology

I have just corrected the etymology to read that nil+gai is a combination of two HINDI, not Sanskrit, words. I also removed the bizarre suggestion that this derived from a supposed Sanskrit word "gabhih", which is found in no dictionary. I propose to delete the reference to a supposed alternative derivation from the Persian "gaw". This is absurd. Nilgai means, quite literally, "bluecow" in Hindi. To derive it from a corruption of a cognate Persian word is absurd. Nakashchit (talk) 11:19, 20 June 2017 (UTC)