Nilgai killed in road accident

A female nilgai (Bocephalus tragocamelus) was killed in a road accident near Nirala village in Jainad mandal of Adilabad district on Saturday, once more pointing to the shrunken habitat of wild animals and resultant man-animal conflict.

The nilgai was one of a small herd which had come to the fields apparently looking for food.

All the fields in the area are barren at this time of the year and evidently the animals drew a blank. The herd was crossing the slightly elevated Bhoraj-Bela road when the accident took place.

According to the car driver Naga Reddy, the wild animal, a lactating female, had leapt onto the road and when it took a second leap to cross over the road it landed on the car’s windscreen and bonnet killing it instantly.

Though nilgai herds have been sighted in the area often, the accident is first of its kind. The police conducted a panchanama and handed the case over to Forest Department.