A Centre-State ‘rice deal’ that secured the shelter of Nilgiri tahrs in Munnar

 

SANDEEP VELLARAM, 

IDUKKI, the hindu, april 1 2025

Fifty years ago, the Eravikulam National Park (ENP), the pristine habitat of the Nilgiri tahr in Munnar, was almost lost to land redistribution. But an unusual backroom deal, sealed over wagons of rice, changed its fate forever.

On March 31, the park celebrated the golden jubilee of its declaration as the Eravikulam-Rajamala Wildlife Sanctuary. It was after a silent movement by a group of people that Eravikulam was declared a protected area. The sanctuary was created in 1975 to protect the Nilgiri tahr and it was named ENP in 1978.

According to records, around 1975, the government decided to give land to landless people. But the then Kanan Devan Hills Plantations managers J.C. Godsbery, Samar Singh and K.N. Chenkappa intervened and called Union government Secretary M.K. Ranjith Sinh to Munnar. After the visit, Mr. Sinh submitted a report to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

In his book A Life with Wildlife – From Princely India to Present, Mr. Sinh said, “Indira Gandhi wrote a letter to the then Kerala Chief Minister C. Achutha Menon requesting him to declare the area a national park. The matter, however, was in limbo, with the State government remaining indecisive for fear of a political fallout.”

The book further describes how a rice deal resulted in the declaration of the park. “Minister of State for Food Anna Shaheb Shinde temporarily assumed additional responsibility for the portfolio of Forests and Wildlife. One day, he asked me if any forest-related issues were pending in Kerala and told me that Kerala Minister Baby John was arriving for a meeting. I told him about the Eravikulam issue and he asked me to join the meeting,” said the book.

40 wagons of rice

“During the meeting, Baby John informed him about the shortage of rice in Kerala and sought 40 rail wagons of rice. With a disarming smile, Shinde offered 25 wagons of rice and enquired about the national park declaration. Baby John, returning the smile, said that the State was actively considering the declaration... In the end, 36 wagons of rice were agreed upon in exchange for the protection of the sanctuary... Today, this exchange resembles a fanciful tale. But it did happen,” narrated the book.

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Cold spell worries for Eravikulam park

Giji K. Raman, Idukki
The Hindu, January, 13, 2019 

The cold wave that began on January 1 has not only affected tea plantations in Munnar but also the grasslands of the Eravikulam National Park (ENP), the natural habitat of the Nilgiri tahr.
The upper reaches of Munnar have been experiencing temperatures below 00 C since the start of the month, which is unusual, and mercury dropped to -40 C after a decade in the region. Munnar Wildlife Warden Lakshmi R. told The Hindu on Saturday that vast areas of grasslands in the ENP had dried up.
She said it was a matter of concern as the area would turn fire-prone well before the drought season. She said Pampadumchola was experiencing sub-zero temperature continuously and mercury dropped to -40 C there.

Widespread damage

“Normally, temperature will rise after one or two days and the damage to the flora will be limited. However, this time the damage is widespread,” she said adding a field study would be conducted to analyse the effect of climate change in the region. Rajamala, one of the main areas where neelakurinji blossomed last year after 12 years, was inside the ENP. The August floods had damaged buds and flowers and its effect would also be studied, she added.
The germination period of neelakurinji had just started and it was being analysed to learn the effect of the floods on the flora. The changes in climate conditions were clearly evident in the Western Ghats as its eastern side formed part of rain shadow areas.
Ms. Lakshmi said controlled burning had already been done on 600 hectares of grasslands and new tender grass appeared with the winter season. It might not immediately cause any shortage of fodder for the fauna, including the Nilgiri tahr, she said. However, a drought situation much before the advent of the summer season raised concerns of wildfires. If the situation continued, fodder could be in short supply too, she added.
The changes in the climatic conditions and its effect on the flora and fauna would be studied and recorded for management purposes, she added.

 

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Counting Munnar’s winged beauties

Radhakrishnan Kuttoor
Pathanamthitta, 
The Hindu, September 23, 2015

The Kerala Forest and Wildlife Department is to launch the first-ever comprehensive and scientific survey of butterflies in the Munnar landscape soon. The three-day survey will commence on Thursday, according to G. Prasad, wildlife warden at Munnar.

Mr. Prasad says the area is characterised by a wide variety of habitat, starting from the low-lying dry scrub jungles of the Chinnar wildlife sanctuary to the ascending peaks with shola forests in the four adjoining shola national parks and the Eravikulam National Park with vast spreads of grasslands.

There is also a wide gradient of altitude, temperature, and vegetation, which all put a lepidopteran enthusiast in great excitement.

The survey

As many as 60 butterfly enthusiasts, including Kalesh Sadasivan of the Travancore Natural History Society and B. Sreekumar and Toms Augastine of the Kottayam Nature Society, will be participating in the butterfly survey, says Mr. Prasad.

E. Kunhikrishnan, senior wildlife biologist, will be the programme coordinator and Mr. Prasad will lead the survey to be held at the Chinnar wildlife sanctuary as well as the four national parks of Mathikettan shola, Pampadum shola, Anamudy shola, and the Kurinjimala wildlife sanctuary. All the four shola national parks and the Chinnar wildlife sanctuary will be systematically surveyed by establishing 14 strategic base-camps covering all the elevations and habitats. The data will be gathered using structured checklists and data sheets and critically analysed with GPS readings, says Mr. Prasad.

Butterfly calendar

For the first time in the world, the Wildlife division at Munnar has made attempts to prepare a butterfly calendar for the Chinnar wildlife sanctuary this year, he says. So far, as many as 208 butterfly species, including 58 new species, have been identified in the Chinnar wildlife sanctuary alone, he says.

Nilgiri Clouded Yellow, Nilgiri Fritillary, Palni Four-ring — all rare and endemic to the Western Ghats, Davisons Bush Brown and Red Disk Bush Brown, which are endemic to the Southern Ghats, are a few of the rare butterfly species identified in Chinnar.

The survey results are expected to be published during the Wildlife Week celebrations to be held from October 2 to 8.

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Nilgiri tahr population in new pockets

K.S. Sudhi, KOCHI,  
The Hindu, September 4, 2015

Nilgiri tahr populations have been recorded from 17 hitherto unrecorded pockets across Kerala and Tamil Nadu, according to a non-governmental organisation. This is the only species of mountain ungulates that exists in southern India.

It was during a four-year-long survey, organised by the WWF and forest officials, that its presence in new and small pockets was identified. The mountain goats, endemic to the Western Ghats regions of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, numbering 131 individuals, were counted, according to the WWF.

In Kerala, the populations were confirmed at nine locations, including Pathrakadavu, Atumudi, Koomban, Madumudi, and Chokramudi. The eight locations in Tamil Nadu included Nagamalai, Marakkal Malai, and Vasakku Malai.

The total population of the species in the region was estimated at 3,122. The single largest population of the species is in the Eravikulam National Park in Kerala. Though many unknown populations were believed to exist in small pockets throughout its range, they had not been surveyed due to the rugged and inaccessible terrain. Inclement weather also limited the understanding of the status and the distribution of the tahr across its range, according to the report.

The population status and distribution of the tahr across its entire distribution range were observed for four years from 2008The population of the species is believed to be declining due to “uncontrolled hunting, conflict with livestock grazing, and habitat loss,” according to the report, which will be released shortly.

The field surveys were carried out by Paul Peter Predit and Varun Prasath.

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Eravikulam grasslands at risk from invasive plants

Giji K. Raman
KATTAPPANA,  
The Hindu, November 8, 2014 

The grasslands of the Eravikulam National Park are under threat from two invasive alien plants.

Eagle fern and goatweed, native to California and Brazil, respectively, have spread across the grasslands, damaging the park’s flora and posing a threat to herbivores, especially the Nilgiri tahr, say recent studies.

The studies are a prelude to documenting the main aggressive plants of the State.

Eagle fern ( Pteridium aquilinum ), also known as bracken, is a large fern that grows to over three ft and readily colonises areas, hampering the growth of grasses and other plants. On the underside of the leaves is sori, which produces spores that, like seed, travel in the wind and create new colonies.

Goatweed ( Ageratum conyzoides ), known as Murianpacha locally, is a flowering plant that grows up to 80 cm.

“Both the plants are unpalatable to herbivores and make colonies, are highly invasive, and prevent the growth of grasses and other plants,” says T.V. Sajeev, Head, Department of Entomology, Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi.

He says these plants have spread wide and could be hindering the growth of fodder for wild animals, especially the Nilgiri tahr.

Eagle fern is allelopathic, that is it lets out chemicals that keep other plants from growing. Because of the chemical effect, animals do not feed on its leaves.

The plant contains carcinogenic agents, and is a threat to human beings and animals.

K.G. Ashok Kumar, who led a team to document the two plants as part of the Save Biodiversity Campaign, told The Hindu that eagle fern was heavily distributed in the low-lying areas of the park and posed a bigger threat than expected.

The plant could replace natural vegetation, and once it spread was difficult to control.

He said the dry leaves of the eagle fern caught fire readily, and the ashes facilitated the growth of the plant.

Mr. Ashok Kumar said the two plants were dangerous to animals and human beings, and it would be a huge challenge for the authorities to control them.

Murianpacha, he said, was also found in parts of Kottayam, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Palakkad, and Wayanad districts, and could grow in different soil types.

 

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Nilgiri tahr population on the rise at Eravikulam

Radhakrishnan Kuttoor
PATHANAMTHITTA,  
The Hindu, August 11, 2014 

The population of Nilgiri tahr, the only mountain goat in south India, at the Eravikulam national park in Munnar is on the rise.

G. Harikumar, Chief Wildlife Warden, and G. Prasad, Wildlife Warden in Munnar, told The Hindu that the annual census conducted by the department, along with certain non-governmental organisations, from April 21 to 28 had put Eravikulam’s tahr population at 894. The figure was 879 last year.

Mr. Prasad said the census was carried out by the Munnar Wildlife Division of the Forest Department. The counting was done using Bounded Counts, a statistic tool developed in 1984 by Rajan Varghese, chief co-ordinator of the census. This method necessitated simultaneous scanning and survey of 13 blocks, based on identified tahr home ranges, repeatedly for five days by various teams comprising volunteers, forest officials, and expert Muduvan trackers, said Mr. Prasad.

The NGOs that participated in the census include Munnar Environment and Wildlife Society, Green Cap Nature Club at Chalakudy, National Green Corps, UPASI Tea Research Institute, and the High Range Wildlife and Environment Preservation Association in Munnar.

Besides Mr. Prasad, P.O. Nameer attached to the Department of Wildlife at the College of Forestry; Mohan Alambath and James Zacharias, both former Wildlife Wardens at Munnar, and Mohan Varghese, general manager of Kannan Devan Hill Products in Munnar, trained volunteers and investigators of the tahr census.

Geographical Positioning System (GPS) was used for the first time in data collection, eliminating error to a great extent. Mr. Rajan Varghese, and M.P. Sanjayan, assistant wildlife warden at the Eravikulam national park, checked the data provided by various census teams.

Mr. Prasad said separate teams were deployed in five new locations of Meeshappuli-Mala, Kundala, Edalimottappara, Kambakkallu and Mangappara to enumerate tahr population there.

He said future efforts for the tahr census would be made under the guidance of the Chief Wildlife Warden in Thiruvananthapuram, the Field Director (Project Tiger) in Kottayam, and the Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Olavakode.

 

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Conservation drones for Nilgiri tahr count

K.S. Sudhi
The Hindu, KOCHI, August 5, 2014 

Conservation drones will soon hover over the Eravikulam National Park clicking pictures of the Nilgiri tahr.

The Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, is drawing up a plan to introduce the unmanned aircraft for population estimation and tracking the movement of the endangered mountain goats. The drones will be equipped with high-resolution mapping cameras that can click pictures for a pre-set period. The images can be stitched to obtain a picture series of the animals, K. Ramesh, scientist at the institute, said.

This will be the first time that the drones are engaged in the State for conservation of wildlife. Researchers expect to fly the drones over the park in three months.

The drones will be introduced in 10 bio-geographic zones in the country, including the Sundarbans and the Himalayas. Three of the four drones will be deployed in the Western Ghats region. The population estimation of the tahr using conservation drones will replace the more than a quarter-century-old ‘block count’ method.

The habitat of the animals is divided into 13 blocks, and the population is estimated based on direct sightings. In this method, the same animals can be sighted by different groups leading to duplication of data, P.O. Nameer, a wildlife expert, said. Conservation drones would help in arriving at scientific population figures for the animals, he said. The tahr population at Eravikulam is estimated to be 870.

Mohan Alampat, former wildlife warden of the park, said the present technique of the tahr count could be affected by poor weather conditions that may hamper the visual search of animals. Conservation drones would evolve as the preferred tool for census in areas like Eravikulam in another five years.

  

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Nilgiri Tahrs ‘migrating’

Giji K. Raman 
KATTAPPANA,  

The Hindu,May 6, 2014

Herds of the endangered species sighted at five blocks besides Rajamala

Herds of the Nilgiri Tahrs (Hemitragus Hylocrius) have been sighted at four blocks besides Rajamala in the Eravikulam National Park (ENP), its natural habitat.

The enhanced presence of the endangered species was detected in a census held between April 24 and 28.

A senior ENP official told The Hindu that this was for the first time that a Nilgiri Tahr census was conducted at Meesapulimada, Kadavari, Kambakallu, Gudallarkudy, and Chokramudy in the ENP and Mangapara in the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary.

Except at Kadavari, the presence of the ungulate was accounted for at the other five blocks in the census.

The official said the final evaluation of the total number of newborns had not been done. The park, which has the largest wild tahr population, was closed for two months from February in view of the breeding season.

As per the 2013 census, the count of the Nilgiri Tahr in the ENP stood at 871. However, its population, after an intensive protection programme was launched at its natural habitat at Rajamala a decade back, had remained stagnant with minor increases in some breeding seasons.

C.P. Soman, Rajamala range officer, said intervention in the ungulate habitat was almost nil though predation by carnivores could be a factor for its stagnant population.

He said the census finding was a sign of positive growth of the tahr population at Rajamala. The ENP consists of 97 sq km of high altitude grasslands. The tahrs avoid ‘shola forests’ though they sometime forage along the periphery.

Mr. Soman said whether the migration of the Nilgir Tahrs to the five blocks was due to changes in its natural habitat or favourable conditions outside needed a study. There would also be natural reasons such as weather changes affecting the habitat, leading to migration to areas outside.

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Now, Kurinji blossoms on your table

K.S. Sudhi
The Hindu,
Feb 03, 2011

KOCHI: Kurinji flowers of various hues are to blossom on your tabletops round the year.
The managers of the Eravikulam National Park have come up with a Kurinji tabletop calendar this year showcasing 12 rare species of the plant variety.
The name Kurinji evokes images of gregarious blossoming of the Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana) in Rajamala and adjoining areas. Though much has been written and discussed about Neelakurinji, there are a few lesser known Strobilanthes species in the shola grassland and other forest ecosystems of the State.
It was the flowering period of 12 years of Neelakurinji that prompted a large number of visitors to undertake long and tiresome journeys from faraway places to Eravikulam to catch a glimpse of the flowers in 2006. But there are some other species which take longer periods for flowering. Strobilanthes zenkerianus is one such Kurinji species which takes around 18 years to flower.
While the Neelakurinji is a shrub, the homotropus species is a tree which can grow up to a size of 20 feet. It is also known as mara kurinji in local parlance. The barbatus species is another tree belonging to the Strobilanthes genus.
One of the specialities of the 2006 flowering was that besides Neelakurinji, a few more Kurinji species also bloomed simultaneously, which was a rare occurrence, said A.K. Pradeepkumar, a wildlife photographer, who had extensively photographed the species.
The Forest authorities have used the photographs of Mr. Pradeepkumar for bringing out the calendar. The photos of the table calendar are the results of long hours of trekking through the difficult terrain and forest lands and it took eight months for photographing 16 Kurinji species, said Mr. Pradeepkumar.
 

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Neelakurinjis are not alone

K. S. Sudhi
KOCHI, June 25, 2012

Taxonomic studies to be conducted

It is estimated that there are 46 varieties of kurinji in the south Western Ghats region.

KOCHI: The world of Kurinjis (Strobilanthes) of the south Western Ghats will open up in much more detail soon. The Forest Department is all set to conduct detailed taxonomic studies on these plants.

After the expansive blooming of Neelakurinjis in 2006, nearly 20 other varieties recently bloomed together at the Eravikulam National Park and adjoining areas.

The department has completed a preliminary study on a few of them. It is estimated that there are 46 varieties in the south Western Ghats region.

The flowering interval of Neelakurinji is 12 years. The government had decided to form the Kurinjimala Sanctuary covering about 32 sq.km of the core habitat of the plant species during the last flowering season.

The department plans to promote research on Kurinji plants, says K.P. Ouseph, Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife).

Kurinji varieties that flowered recently have been identified by researchers as neoasper, lawsonii, andersonii, foliosis, grazilus and so on, says M.P. Sanjayan, Forester.

The flowering rotation of a large number of Kurinji plants remains unknown. It is believed that the flowering rotation of lawsonii is 24 years. But neoasper, luridus and andersonii flower once in a decade and pulniensis in seven years.

Much is not known about varieties other than Neelakurinji. A detailed taxonomic study of them needs to be conducted, says A.P. Sunil Babu, Wildlife Warden of the Eravikulam National Park.

Most Kurunjis are found at an altitude of above 5000 ft as part of the shola grassland ecosystem. While Neelakurunji is found on the grasslands, others are mostly found inside, or on the fringes of, the sholas.

Foliosis has an affinity for areas near streams. Grazilus, locally known as Marakurunji, is the tallest variety and can grow up to a height of four metres. This variety flowers once in a decade.

Only 10 per cent of the seeds of the variety germinate and live on and it requires massive flowering and bearing of seeds for the species to survive, Mr. Sanjayan says.

Most of the Kurunjis have flowers of lilac shades. But pulniensis bears white flowers, he says.

 

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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.

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Threatened ungulates in focus

Anand Parthasarathy
TheHindu, September 12, 2006

An international conference in Munnar on the Nilgiri tahr and its cousins

They are sometimes horned, always hooved and herbivorous. They graze the slippery slopes of the world's hilly, and occasionally snow-covered, grasslands. They form a global family of mammals known as ungulates that is under increasing threat from war, encroachment or human greed.

For three days from September 13, over 100 naturalists from a dozen nations will meet at Munnar, Kerala, home to arguably the best conserved of the Indian ungulates the Nilgiri tahr.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is holding the World Congress on Mountain Ungulates (WCMU), the fourth since 1989 and the first in Asia, near the Eravikulam National Park. The park, with its tropical grassland ecosystem, is today home to over 700 of the 2,000-odd tahr that are in the Anamalai region of the Western Ghats.

"Conservation efforts are afoot in over 20 countries and they target such diverse ungulates like the Tibetan gazelle and the yak in Ladakh; the Iberian Ibex in Portugal; and its Nubian cousin in Yemen; the Alpine chamois in Italy and Switzerland; the Rocky Mountain goat of Canada and the U.S. and the Korean goral," explains Mohan Alembath, president of the Nilgiri Tahr Trust.

He is a conservationist who served the Kerala Forest Department until 2001. During a nine-year tenure as Wild Life Warden, he helped make Eravikulam one of the rare success stories in conservation this country has seen.

The event is hosted by the Munnar-based High Range Wildlife and Environment Preservation Association, largely staffed by nature-loving members of the Tata Tea plantations that dominate the Kannan Devan Hills.

Partnership

The partnership between the Association and the State Forest Department has been a model of public-private cooperation in conservation.

The delegates will be able to assess the results first-hand: the tahr's calving season is just over and the fresh count is just in. Their visit also coincides with the 12-yearly flowering of the neela kurinji, which is turning the Munnar hills into a blue blaze of colour.

Discussions

The discussions will include the need to create a Pamir Peace Park where China, Pakistan and Afghanistan meet, to help conserve the Marco Polo sheep now less than 6,000 in number.

It will discuss why the Swedish moose is under threat from its most formidable predator, the European brown bear.

It will consider what the disturbed environment in Kashmir is doing to the lifestyle and very existence of the Kashmir stag or hangul.

Hopefully, the exchange of experience and results will help the world's hooved grazers cling on a mite more firmly to their precarious and increasingly threatened grazing lands.

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