Context: With a resolve to remove the Nilgiri Tahr (Nilgiritragus hylocrius) from the endangered status, the Tamil Nadu government will conduct a synchronised survey of the State animal.
The three-day exercise is being done to estimate the population of the Tahrs, which once roamed the length and breadth of the Anamalai and Nilgiris landscape
About Nilgiri Tahr
IUCN Status: Endangered
Wildlife Protection Act 1972- Schedule I
Endemic to Western Ghats
- The Nilgiri tahr is the only mountain ungulate in southern India amongst the 12 species present in India.
- It is also the state animal of Tamil Nadu.
- Locally the animal is called ‘Varayaadu’.
- The Nilgiri tahr, or Nilgiri ibex of southern India, is dark brown with a grizzled saddle-shaped patch on its back; its body size is comparable to that of the Himalayan species.
- The Arabian tahr is the smallest of the three species.
Distribution
- They inhabit the open montane grassland habitats at elevations from 1200 to 2600 m of the Southwestern Ghats.
- Currently, the Nilgiri tahr distribution is along a narrow stretch of 400 km in the Western Ghats between Nilgiris in the north and Kanyakumari hills in the south of the region.
- There are smaller populations found in the Palani hills, Srivilliputtur, and the Meghamalai and Agasthiyar ranges.
- Only two well-protected, large populations are documented -- one from the Nilgiris and the other from the Anamalais, including the high ranges of Kerala.
- The Eravikulam National Park in Anamalai hills, Kerala, is home to the largest population of the Nilgiri tahr, with more than 700 individuals.
Reproductive behavior
- A grown-up male is known as 'saddle back'.
- The male would be bigger and darker than the female and has a silvery saddle like patch on its back.
- Mating takes place during the monsoon season and calving is during January-February.
- The female gestates for about 180 days and usually gives birth to one kid per pregnancy. Sexual maturity is achieved at around three years of age.
- The average life expectancy for Nilgiri tahr in the wild is estimated to be only three or 3.5 years although the potential life span is at least 9 years.
Threats To Niligiri Tahr
- Habitat loss due to rampant deforestation, competition with domestic livestock, hydroelectric projects in Nilgiri tahr habitat, and monoculture plantations
- Occasional hunting for its meat and skin
As a result of extreme habitat fragmentation, its population has declined drastically in the last few years. Plantation activities affect the Nilgiri tahr habitat, which includes grasslands and sholas.
Conservation measures
- WWF India initiated its conservation work on Nilgiri tahr in 2008.
- In 2012, an assessment on Nilgiri Tahr’s status, threats faced, habitat, and population size was carried out in the Western Ghats.
- WWF India published a report on the comprehensive study of the Nilgiri tahr population and its habitat in the hills of Tamil Nadu and Kerala in 2015.
- It was the first time such a comprehensive report had been made.