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introduction
Nilgiri tahr ( Nilgiritragus hylocrius, Ropiquet and Hassanin, 2005 Nilgiri
tahr
is an endangered mountain
ungulate listed in schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act
1972 and considered as endangered by the IUCN. The
species was assessed as endangered using the 1994 Red List
Categories and Criteria as EN B1+2acd, C2a on 6/30/2000 (Assessors:CAMP
Workshop, India). In the 2008 Redlist also the species was assessed as endangered.(
Assessors:Alempath, M. & Rice, C.G, Evaluators Harris, R. &
Festa-Bianchet, M. (Caprinae Red List Authority) ). It is the congener of the Himalayan tahr Hemitragus jemlahicus, found from
Kashmir to Bhutan (Schaller, 1971) and the Arabian tahr Arabitragus jayakari, which is
confined to the mountain district Synonyms Kemas hylocrius (Ogilby, 1837) Capra warrayato (Gray, 1842) Kemas warrayato (Gray,1852) Hemitragus hylocrius (Ogilby, 1838) Common
Names Nilgiri Tahr Varayadu
(Malayalam) Varaiaadu (Tamil) Tahr des monts Nilgiri ( French) Rice, 1990 Nilgiritahr(German) Rice, 1990
Range
size:
The reason for the
rather local distribution of the Tahr is its preference for a habitat that is
predominantly of grasslands adequately sheltered by steep rocky cliffs; a unique
habitat type that has rightly given the species the local name Varai Aadu
(= Cliff Goat). These grasslands receive not less than 1500mm of rainfall
annually and enjoy a short dry season and as such are restricted to just 7 high
altitude landscapes (1200-2600m ASL) in the southern Western Ghats. Having been exterminated from the northernmost Tahr landscape, the high
altitude grasslands of southwestern Karnataka during the past 50 years, the Tahr
is at present found only within 6 high altitude landscapes. And within these 6
landscapes, 18 localities have sustained small to large populations that vary in
size between 20 and 550 animals. Estimates made at various times during the past
30 years placed the population size of the Nilgiri Tahr between 2000 and 2500
over its entire range. It is evident that the
Nilgiri Tahr had reached the brink of extinction sometime during the latter half
of the 19th century. Early interventions by the erstwhile Nilgiri
Game Association and High Range Game Association and modern conservation
initiatives guided by the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972 have aided a
rather dramatic comeback of the species in less than 150 years. However, the
long quoted figures of 2000-2500 animals in the wild seem be the product of
over-estimation. A |