Unidentified miscreants killed two blackbucks, an endangered species, at Mahuli village of Allahabad district on Monday evening.

Forest guard Ajay Singh said, “The four miscreants were in a jeep but I could note the registration number due to darkness.” They fled from the spot with the bodies as they saw villagers coming after them, he added.

Forest Officer AK Pandey said: “I have received the report of hunting of blackbucks and ordered an inquiry into the matter. Soon an FIR will be lodged against the culprits.”

“There have been several instances of locals resisting the armed men, when they attempted to kill blackbucks. But in the absence of help from police and forest officials, the poaching continues unabated,” said Raghu Kol, a resident of Chandpur Khamariya.

According to locals, the number of blackbucks in the forests spread over 150 acres in Meja circle has reduced from 400 to 150 in just 18 months. Forest officials said the species is found only in this area of the district in entire UP, but the authorities have not been taking steps to protect the animal.

In the absence of fencing of forests, water and other facilities for animals, blackbucks are often hunted by miscreants. Many others die in summers as forests do not have ponds and going to river for water often makes blackbucks an easy target of poachers, said an official.

Feeling threatened, the blackbucks have been migrating to neighbouring districts of Madhya Pradesh. Local MP Reoti Raman Singh had once got a proposal approved from the state government for the protection of the animal but the project could not take off.