Urgent steps needed to save Nilgiri tahrs

The Hindu, September 15, 2006

Munnar: How many Nilgiri tahrs are there in the wild? According to a paper presented at the fourth World Congress on Mountain Ungulates, the present population of the Nilgiri tahr is likely to be much lower than what is generally believed. The paper, presented by R.J. Ranjit, P.S. Easa, K. Ramkumar, Pratheesh C. Mammen and Mohan Alembath, states that the long quoted figures of 2,000-2,500 animals in the wild seem to be an overestimation.

Limited presence

The Nilgiri tahr is among the few species of mountain goats that have adapted to a cold and wet tropical environment. Today, the endemic and endangered tahr is limited to a very small geographical area that does not exceed five per cent of the Western Ghats. The reason for this rather local distribution is the preference for a habitat that is predominantly of grassland sheltered by steep rocky cliff that receives over 1,500 mm of rainfall annually and enjoys dry season. Such a tropical habitat is restricted to just six or seven high altitude landscapes of the south Western Ghats.

The current geographical range of the tahr is less than 400 km north-south, between the Nilgiri Hills and Kanyakumari Hills in the Western Ghats. Over the short range and within the six identified tahr landscapes, 18 locations continue to support small to large populations of the tahr. Local populations vary in size between 30 and 500 animals. Estimates made at various times during the last 30 years have placed the population between 2,000 and 2,500.

Call for research

According to A.J.T. Johnsingh of the Nature Conservation Society, research should be conducted in many more species that have been left uncovered. India's rich diversity of mountain ungulates includes 19 species, belonging to 12 genera, four families and two orders. The quantum of ecological research on the animals varies, with only five species being relatively well studied. In general, species that are rare and occur in physically or administratively inaccessible areas have been less researched.

Conservation also varies with six species numbering less than 1,000 and three between 1,000 and 2,000.

Fragmented population

In his plenary talk, Dr. Johnsingh said the Tibetan gazelle with a fragmented population of less than 200 in Ladakh and North Sikkim was on the verge of extinction. The species is in need of urgent participatory species recovery programme. Listing out the ungulates that face threat in India, Dr. Johnsingh said conservation requisites for the mountain ungulates differ.

International cooperation can help safeguard many of the species.