The four-horned antelope is a solitary bovid of open, dry deciduous forests in India. Four horns are present only in adult males.
Adult males have four horns on the forehead.
At Banke National Park in Nepal, researchers collected 53 fresh pellet groups from four-horned antelope in December 2015 and January 2016. They compared plant fragments with reference samples under a microscope, examining 1,590 fragments and identifying 1,520. The dry-season diet contained 30 plant species.
Browse—herbs, vines, shrubs and trees—made up 85.5% of identified fragments, while grass made up 14.47%. Tree material accounted for 46.55% and shrubs for 24.52%. The researchers reported that four-horned antelope relied heavily on woody plants in winter, when grass was scarce and less nutritious.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
At Banke, 85.5% of identified dry-season fragments came from trees, shrubs, vines and other leafy plants, while grass made up 14.47%. The authors recommend protecting fruit trees and shrubs that provide food in winter and encouraging their natural regrowth.