I'm not surprised they are broken - its antlers were never designed to fight with a horned antelope. I didn't stay long enough to check out the winner but I visited twice whilst in Vienna and they were fighting both times.
I think his antlers would be a lot harder than the antelope's. They also seem very square on the end, like they have been cut. Were they both the same length, as I suspect they were cut off to protect the Blackbuck.
You're probably right there since i notice now that they do look 'pruned'. The problem with having only a couple of days to visit a new zoo, take it all in AND take photos of a reasonable quality is that you don't really observe as much as you should. I'm sure you know what i mean.
I would suggest the pointed horns of the Blackbuck are more likely to be lethal to the Chital; I seem to remember reading that 'switch' [unbranched] antlers on deer gave an advantage when fighting an animal with normal antlers.
in any case the forward tine of the chital is not "pruned" which suggests the antlers have not been cut by the keepers but have been broken. FBBird is right, the horns of the blackbuck would be much more dangerous than the antlers of the deer.
I agree that would seem logical - this was an 'Indian' exhibit and also contained nilgai and indian rhino. I don't know how they manage in zoos with limited space (as in the case of Schonbrunn) or else they are constantly moving animals around.
