CHENNAI: The state government has big plans to stabilise the population of Nilgiri Tahr, the state animal, and to restore some of its lost habitats.
Preparations have commenced for the first-ever synchronised census in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and a decision was taken to capture a few for radio-collaring to understand the range and habitat barriers of the ‘Mountain Monarch’.
The ambitious project ‘The Nilgiri Tahr’ was officially launched by Chief Minister MK Stalin during a brief event at the secretariat on Thursday. “For over 2,000 years, this remarkable species has graced our folklore, culture, and life. Now, it’s our duty to ensure its future. We are embarking on a comprehensive survey to understand and protect the Tahr’s habitat and population,” Stalin said after the launch.
MG Ganesan, serving as deputy director of the Advanced Institute of Wildlife Conservation (AIWC) in Chennai, has been transferred to Coimbatore and made the project director of the mission. State environment secretary Supriya Sahu told TNIE, “The next few months are going to hectic, as the project team will be busy undertaking a flurry of activity. There are several habitats where Nilgiri Tahr has become locally extinct. The re-introduction of Tahr in those landscapes, radio-collaring a few to gather in-depth knowledge of their behaviour and protection of their habitat from anthropogenic activities are some of the focus areas.”
Authorities said there was no comprehensive data on the current status and distribution of the species. Despite several studies conducted over the years, only a rough distribution and crude estimates of Nilgiri Tahr populations are available. The last credible estimation was done by WWF-India in 2015, according to which there was a combined Tahr population of 3,122 in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring landscape of Kerala.
MA Predit, associate coordinator (Nilgiri Tahr Project), WWF-India told TNIE, “We got permission from the Tamil Nadu forest department to capture and fix radio-collars on four Tahrs. After 2015 study, we had conducted one field estimation in Mukurthi National Park and a few other landscapes during Covid-19 pandemic period. But, due to Covid restrictions, we couldn’t derive accurate results. We will be collaborating with the Tahr Project team of Tamil Nadu forest department during the proposed synchronised census.”
S Priyanka, senior scientist and co-ordinator for Nilgiri Tahr project, said there are a total of 123 habitat fragments ranging in area from 0.04 sq.km to 161.69 sq.km totalling to an area of 798.60 sq.km with confirmed occurrence of Nilgiri Tahr. “In the past few decades, Nilgiri Tahr has become locally extinct in around 14% of its traditional shola-grassland habitat.”
The species has always been under severe stress on account of the construction of numerous hydroelectric projects, timber felling and monocultures of eucalyptus, wattle, pine and tea in the original grassland ecosystem. All these development activities, especially the plantation activities, affect the core Tahr habitat, which comprises grasslands and sholas.
Tahr facts