( 1 Professor) Eco. Env. & Cons. 28 (October Suppl. Issue) : 2022; pp. (S71-S76) Copyright@ EM International ISSN 0971–765X Population tendencies of Blackbuck Antilope cervicapra in four consecutive years at Basur Amruth Mahal Kaval Blackbuck Conservation Reserve, Karnataka, India Vinay Kumar C. 1 and Vijaya Kumara* 2 Department of P.G. Studies and Research in Wildlife and Management, Kuvempu University, Jnana Sahyadri, Shankaraghatta 577 451, Shivamogga, Karnataka, India (Received 28 January, 2022; Accepted 4 March, 2022) ABSTRACT This study was carried out to ascertain the status and trends of blackbuck population (N t ) in four consecutive years from 2017 to 2020 and to investigate the causative factors taking away their livelihood in a fragile and dynamic habitat of Basur Amruth Mahal Kaval Blackbuck Conservation Reserve with an area of 7.36 km 2 . Our results emerged with population changes (N t ) with total of 238, 262, 277 and 296 individuals in each year respectively displaying steady state increase. Adult females increased from 136 to 189 whereas adult males (59-60) showed near stable numbers prior to increased predation chances at the habitat edges between open grassland and tall bushes where fawns might be rarely detected. The population density (Dp= 32.336 to 40.217 individuals per sq. km) showed gradual increasing trend. The dwindling blackbuck population prefers open grassland habitat with less fragmentation forces and avoid thick and tall vegetations. Population estimations of blackbuck using line transect methods in these areas with mixed vegetations containing tall shrubs (Prosopis juliflora, Dodonaea viscosa) probably lead to biased detections. Habitat fragmentation, reduced grassland area due to invasive growth of weeds including Barleria mysorensis, overgrazing and poaching activities are the timeline issues of conservation in this area. Key words : Blackbuck, Population trends, Basur Kaval, Conservation Reserve, Open grassland Introduction As in most parts of the world, a majority of grass- lands in India have been converted into agricultural fields, leading to fragmentation and the remaining areas face heavy grazing by domestic livestock (Dabadghao and Shankarnarayan, 1973; Singh and Joshi, 1979a, 1979b; Singh et al., 2006; Kanhal and Chalise, 2011). Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra Linnaeus, 1758) is a species of Bovidae family. Blackbuck groups are largely found in many regions of India and Nepal, except for the north-eastern region. Blackbuck is one among the antelopes endemic to the Indian subcon- tinent (Antilope cervicapra cervicapra in Northern In- dia, Antilope cervicapra centralis in Central India, Antilope cervicapra rajputane in Western India and Antilope cervicapra rupicapra in Southern India) dis- tributed with their dwindling nature of population (Bhatta, 2008). It is also known by a number of other names like Kala Hiran, Krishna Mriga, Krishna Saar, etc. The conservation status of Blackbuck is listed in http://doi.org/10.53550/EEC.2022.v28i06s.0012