SATV, Kathmandu, Oct. 6-  The population of blackbuck, one of Nepal’s rare wild animals, is declining even inside the country’s only blackbuck conservation area in Khairapur, Bardiya.

Thirty-four blackbuck have died, and 20 have gone missing from the conservation area over the past 15 months, with leopard attacks accounting for most of the deaths.

The fate of the 20 missing blackbuck remains unknown. Bhojraj Pantha, chief of the Blackbuck Conservation Area in Khairapur, said the animals may have been killed by leopards and carried away and eaten outside the conservation area.

Even if the blackbuck were killed outside the area, no remains or body parts have been found, Pantha said.

The latest count puts the blackbuck population at 210, down from 242 in the last fiscal year. The previous count included 149 females, 75 males and 18 fawns.

The decline began in the current fiscal year, which started in mid-July. The population now consists of 140 females, 58 males and 12 fawns.

“Last fiscal year, 12 blackbuck were found dead after leopard attacks, one after an attack by a striped hyena, seven after attacks by dogs and 22 from natural causes,” Pantha said. “In the current fiscal year, eight have been killed by leopards, three by dogs and one has died from natural causes.”

In addition to the recent deaths, 40 blackbucks were swept away by flooding in the Babai river on August 13, 2014.

A male leopard was captured on Monday after entering an enclosure used to keep blackbuck inside the conservation area. Four leopards have been captured in the area since June 12 and released in Bardiya National Park.

Authorities estimate that four or five leopards are living in a community forest near the conservation area, raising concerns over continued attacks on the already declining blackbuck population.