Amid the tall dry grass and large expanses of sugarcane fields of Rabupura village in Greater Noida, hundreds of blackbuck have been thriving in oblivion for years. Local villagers say that the animals have always been there almost like pests who feed on their crop. However, no authority was aware of their existence till October — two months ago.

The forest department officials only recently came across this large blackbuck habitat in Rabupura area of Greater Noida that has never been reported earlier. Officials give credit for all the information to a ‘baba’ (hermit) who, incidentally, never talks.

The lone hermit living in a desolate ashram in the middle of the fields has been feeding the blackbucks and also encouraging villagers to take care of the animals. The baba moved to this village about a year and a half ago. Blackbucks are considered to be a pest in the area as they feed on and destroy crops of farmers, who scare them away.

“This large group of blackbuck was only noticed because of the baba and vigilant villagers. The villagers in this area do not harm animals. They rather ferociously protect the animals. The baba doesn’t talk but he instructs the villagers by writing on a slate,” Sital Panwar, range officer of the forest department, said.

True enough, when the officials arrested two alleged poachers from a nearby area with several traps in their possession, they were not found to be local villagers. One of the accused was from a distant district in Uttar Pradesh while the other was from Faridabad, Haryana.

“These animals are going to grow healthier now with hopefully no more threat to their habitat. Besides, the wheat crop will be ready soon in the fields nearby and they will get enough food to graze, much to the annoyance of the local farmers,” Panwar said.

The farmers here know that the blackbuck and nilgai will eat or trample their field. So, they take precautions. The blackbucks may be pests, but they are beloved ones. Farmers never intend to harm these animals.

“Why should we be killing these beautiful animals when they run away scared with the wave of a hand. We are lucky to have such beautiful animals around, animals that are mentioned in scriptures and old folk stories,” Pyare Lal, a local farmer, said.

Lal was the first person to spot an injured blackbuck in his field three months ago with a poacher’s trap stuck in its leg. He had dragged the animal to the baba’s ashram and had informed officials. The blackbuck, however, could not be saved and succumbed to its injuries.

The new habitat was noticed after locals reported two dead blackbucks in October and November that were found to be victims of poaching. Forest officials later got information that herds of blackbuck are regularly seen in the area. Officials were surprised when on multiple occasions they saw groups of 20-30 of these animals in the fields.

When asked if the villagers were happy about the newfound blackbuck population in Rabupura, villagers were surprised.

“It’s nothing unusual for us as we see them regularly. They come out in the open field to play, drink water or soak in the sun. There are large herds seen every day hopping around the fields,” Komal Nai, another villager told us as he showed us a small herd.

Komal said that the tall grasses and sugarcane fields are their home. When asked if we could see them, Komal took us closer to the nearest patch of sugarcane crop. After about 15 minutes of looking around, we did see a couple of male and a small group of female blackbuck. The female in the species do not have the characteristic long spiraling antlers like the male.

Komal is worried that poaching and increased activities may affect these animals soon.

As of now the area is mostly uninhabited, apart from a handful villagers working in the fields. There are just large fields spread across several hectares. Even these are interspersed by large expanses of barren land that is not occupied for habitation of agriculture. Tall dry grass grows in these patches, providing the much needed resting place and camouflage for the blackbuck, Nilgai and spotted deer seen in the area.

First Published: Jan 15, 2019 15:42 IST