India Closely
The exposition India closely attached to the terrace of Saola restaurant is inhabited by rare Asian ungulates.
Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) belongs to one of the few antelopes having very distinct sexual dimorphism – females and young males have yellow-brown fur with fair lower parts; adult males have dark brown back with sharp edge towards white lower parts. Moreover, males possess spiral and throughout ringed horns, females are without horns. The Ostrava herd comprises of eight individuals – seven females and one male that is still fair due to his low age. Nevertheless, attentive visitors can recognize him according to his 5cm long small horns.
Blackbucks are tiny antelopes reaching the height of 70-85 cm at shoulder. Adult individuals weigh only 25-35 kg. This is the reason, why they have some many predators making the blackbucks very cautious and shy animals. In case of danger, members of the herd warn each other with high jumps up in the air.
Chital (Axis axis) inhabits open grassland with sparse woods from lowlands to highlands, sometimes can be found also in heavy forest at hillsides. It usually occurs near water and is a good swimmer. Apart from India, chital can be found in Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. Chital is active at dawn and dusk and feeds on grass, leaves, herbs and fallen fruit. Chital forms large herds comprising of 30-50 females and several males. Males possess 1m long three-pronged antlers curved in lyre shape that are shed throughout the whole year, mostly in August and September. The name chital or cheetal comes from Bengali world „chitra“, which means „ spotted“.