Context: Recently the Tamil Nadu government launched an initiative for the conservation of the Nilgiri Tahr.

Nilgiri Tahr project

• It is India’s first project to conserve the State animal of Tamil Nadu.

• It will be taken up at a cost of Rs 25.14 crore.

• It will have 9 components.

• It includes bi-annual synchronised surveys across the division, diagnosis and treatment for affected individuals and Shola grassland restoration pilot in Upper Bhavani.

Nilgiri Tahr

• It was formerly called Hemitragus hylocrius.

• Its generic name was changed to Nilgiritragus after the phylogenic research by Ropiquet and Hassanin in 2005.

• It is one of the few species of mountain Caprinae, and the only Tahr.

• IUCN: Endangered

• Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 status: Schedule-I.

• It is a congener of the Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus) found in Kashmir and Bhutan.

• Arabian tahr (Arabitragus jayakari) found in Oman and United Arab Emirates.

• It is endemic to the southern part of the Western Ghats.

• It is the only mountain ungulate in Southern India among the 12 species present in India.

• Its population has been estimated at 3,122 in the wild, according to a report released by World Wildlife Fund India in 2015.

Habitat

• It used to be found along the entire stretch of Western Ghats but in small fragmented pockets.

• It is between Nilgiris in the north and Kanyakumari hills in the south of the region.

• Its species is found in a roughly 400 km stretch in the Western Ghats.

• It falls in the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

• There are smaller populations found in the Palani hills, Srivilliputtur, and the Meghamalai and Agasthiyar ranges.

• Eravikulam National Park in Anamalai hills has the highest density and largest surviving population of Nilgiri tahr.

Threats

• Hunting for its meat and skin

• Habitat loss due to rampant deforestation

• Competition with domestic livestock

• hydroelectric projects in habitat

• monoculture plantations

Conservation

• Conservation efforts have been on for quite a long time and the numbers have recovered around 1,000 in 1970 to around 2,600 in 2010.