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:

Area of occupancy- (pre-colonial) 4000-5000km2

Extent of occurrence-(present) 400-500km2

 

Elevation:

Upper limit - 2695mt (Anaimudi)

Lower limit (present)- 600mt.

                   (past)    - 300mt.

 

Population Estimations

1000 (Schaller,1970)

2200 (Davidar,1978)

2234 (Rice,1984)

2500 (Shackleton.1997)

1950 (Daniels et al., 2006).

The latest study by Daniels et al indicate a decline in population level

 

The Nilgiri tahr has short grey-brown or dark coat. There are facial markings, particularly distinct in mature males, consisting of a dark brown muzzle separated from a dark cheek by a white stripe running down from the base of horns. Females and immature males are an overall yellowish-brown to grey, with the underparts being paler (Lydekker, 1913; Prater, 1971; Rice, 1988; Nowak, 1991). Adult males weigh atound 100Kg and stands at 110 Cm at shoulder height. Adult females weigh at 50 Kg and stands at 80 Cms at shoulder height (Rice, 1990). Females have two nipples, unlike the two other species of tahr which have four (Nowak, 1991).  Both sexes of N. hylocrius bear relatively short curving horns. An estimated 2000 of the species exist in the wild.  Older males a are called Saddlebacks as they have a distinctive silvery saddle-patch marks on the rump.  The horns of females are shorter and slenderer.The main breeding season (rut) of wild Nilgiri tahr is from June to August during the monsoons (Rice, 1990; Robinson, 2005). Conception is for a period of 6 months. Peak in births occutr in January and February. New born tahr is called a Kid. By two months of age the kid follows its mother (Wilson, 1980) but they are not weaned until four to six months (Wilson, 1980; Rice, 1990). Sexual maturity occurs around 16 months (Wilson, 1980; Rice, 1990).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 (Rice, 1988; Rice, 1990).

The Nilgiri Tahr (Nilgiritragus hylocrius) is the only species of Caprine ungulate that is found south of the Himalayas in India. The eleven other species of Indian Caprine ungulates are confined to the Himalayan biogeographical zones. The Nilgiri Tahr presently occurs patchily over a short 400km stretch of the southern Western Ghats that spans the high altitude plateau of the Nilgiris and the hills of the Kanyakumari district; the total area of which is a mere 5% of the entire Western Ghats region.

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 19^th 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 conservative estimate would place the numbers within 1800-2000.