IIT Madras sits on about 250 hectares of wooded land carved out of the same forest as the Guindy National Park, according to the institute. It is one of the few university campuses in the world where blackbuck, an endangered antelope, live among hostels and labs. The campus wildlife club, Prakriti, counts about 100 bird species and about 40 butterfly species there. The campus also has spotted deer, jackals, mongooses, monkeys and palm civets.
Living so close together has a cost. Records obtained under the RTI Act show dozens of deer dying on campus every year. Here is what lives there, what the numbers show, and what the campus and its neighbours are doing about it.
One forest, three owners
The Guindy National Park, 270.57 hectares and formed in 1978, according to the state’s statistical handbook, is the protected core. IIT Madras and Raj Bhavan hold the wooded land next to it. Prakriti says the park and campus are tropical dry evergreen forest, the least common vegetation type in India. Within the campus it describes four habitats: open grasslands, wetlands, thick forest and scrub. Together, the park and campus have about 300 species of trees and plants.
Not every animal is native. Prakriti’s flora and fauna page says spotted deer were introduced to the national park in the 1940s. A 2022 Mongabay India commentary says some sources date the blackbuck’s introduction to 1924, under a Governor of the Madras Presidency.
The blackbuck in numbers
The blackbuck is a Schedule I animal under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, giving it the same legal protection as the tiger. The Mongabay commentary pieced together the record:
| Year | Place | Blackbuck |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Guindy National Park (survey reported by IUCN) | 625 |
| 2006 | IIT Madras campus | About 12 |
| 2013 | IIT Madras campus | 34 |
| December 2017 | IIT Madras campus (RTI reply) | 32 |
| 2019 | IIT Madras campus | About 25 |
| Recent estimate | Guindy, IIT and Raj Bhavan combined | About 100 |
The December 2017 figure is from an RTI reply reported by The News Minute, which also counted 372 spotted deer on campus. The commentary notes that the campus herd has been cut off from the Guindy and Raj Bhavan animals by a wall for about 40 years. At least three albino blackbuck seen since 2006 may be a sign of inbreeding. The recovery after 2006 followed work to bring back the grassland the antelope need, and blackbuck do not do well under trees.
Why grassland matters
Blackbuck are animals of open plains. They graze on short native grass and need clear sightlines to spot predators. The Mongabay commentary lists the main threats to Chennai’s herds. Natural grassland is being turned into manicured lawns of non-native grass, and Prosopis juliflora and other alien trees are spreading until open ground becomes woodland. Construction also breaks up the remaining patches. At Raj Bhavan, news reports in April 2022 noted about 20 blackbuck deaths in five months, which the commentary links to starvation after lawns and spreading trees replaced the grass. The same commentary credits the campus recovery after 2006 to habitat work that brought grassland back.
Deaths on campus
RTI replies give a run of spotted deer deaths on campus:
- 2014 to 2016: 220 deer and 8 blackbuck;
- 2017: 82 spotted deer and 4 blackbuck;
- 2018: 96 deer, by IIT Madras’s own count;
- 2019: 79;
- 2020: 83;
- 2021: 53.
The 2018 to 2021 figures come from IIT Madras data reported by The News Minute in February 2022. In the six months to December 2021, only 15 of 35 dead deer had a post-mortem. The causes recorded included plastic ingestion, tuberculosis, weakness and dog bites. Wildlife authorities said dog-bite deaths fell from 28 in 2020 to 5 in 2021. IIT Madras said it had taken strong steps to cut plastic waste. It estimated 15 to 16 stray dogs on campus and said it runs an animal birth control programme with the Blue Cross. It also said post-mortems are handled by the Forest Department.
If you live, study or work on campus
Prakriti’s helpline page sets out what to do. The page is undated, so confirm its numbers with campus security.
- Injured animal: keep people away and do not move it. Call campus security and the club’s contacts, who will bring a vet.
- Dead animal: inform security and the Guindy National Park range office, which handles post-mortems.
- Snake: watch from a distance, do not kill it, and call the security duty room.
- Star tortoise: leave it alone, or gently move it off a road into undergrowth. Keeping one is illegal.
- Every day: never feed deer or monkeys, keep food waste in closed bins, and drive slowly, especially at dawn and dusk.
Quick answers
Are there blackbuck at IIT Madras?
Yes. About 25 lived on campus in 2019. About 100 are estimated across the Guindy National Park, IIT and Raj Bhavan.
How big is the IIT Madras campus?
About 250 hectares, according to the institute.
Why do deer die on campus?
Post-mortems have cited plastic ingestion, dog bites, tuberculosis and weakness, though most deaths are not examined.
Information checked against official sources on 18 October 2026. Fees, dates and rules can change; confirm on the linked official pages before acting.
Sources
- About IIT Madras: overview (IIT Madras)
- Prakriti, the Wildlife Club of IIT Madras
- Flora and fauna (Prakriti, IIT Madras)
- Wildlife helpline guidance (Prakriti, IIT Madras)
- Commentary: the shrinking habitats of blackbucks in Chennai (Mongabay India)
- IIT Madras claims deer deaths on campus down 64%, activists sceptical (The News Minute)
- RTI shows 35 deer died at IIT-M in 6 months, institute says deaths have reduced (The News Minute)
- Statistical Handbook: Forests chapter (Department of Economics and Statistics, Tamil Nadu)
