Dry Thorn Scrub Ecology and Blackbuck of Chikkaballapur

Chikkaballapur district's open scrubland and grassland patches on the Deccan plateau support populations of Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra), one of India's fastest antelopes. The Bishnoi community's model of blackbuck conservation in Rajasthan has its parallel in local Kuruba and Vokkaliga farmers who have traditionally maintained informal prohibitions on killing blackbuck grazing in their fields. Sacred groves (devara kadu) maintained around Nandi Hills' temples protect significant patches of dry deciduous forest in an otherwise heavily fragmented landscape. The district's proximity to Bengaluru creates development pressure, and the Nandi Hills area is classified as an eco-sensitive zone to prevent urban sprawl from destroying the remaining wildlife corridors.