Nilgiri tahr

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Nilgiri tahr
Male (left)
Female in Eravikulam National Park
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Caprinae
Tribe:
Caprini
Genus: Nilgiritragus
Ropiquet & Hassanin, 2005
Species:
N. hylocrius
Binomial name
Nilgiritragus hylocrius
(Ogilby, 1838)
Distribution of Nilgiri tahr
Synonyms

Hemitragus hylocrius

The Nilgiri tahr (Nilgiritragus hylocrius) is an

Nilgiri Hills and the southern portion of the Western and Eastern Ghats in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala in southern India. It is the only species in the genus Nilgiritragus and is closely related to the sheep of the genus Ovis
.

It is the state animal of Tamil Nadu.[2]

Etymology

The genus name Nilgiritragus is derived from the

Sanskrit words Nila(blue) and Giri(mountains) meaning "blue hills" and the Greek word trágos meaning "goat".[3]

Taxonomy

The Nilgiri tahr was described as Capra warryato by Gray.[4]

Taxonomy

The species was formerly placed in the genus Hemitragus together with the Himalayan tahr (H. jemlahicus) and the Arabian tahr (Arabitragus jayakari). A 2005 phylogenetic analysis showed that the Himalayan and Arabian tahr are sisters of the genus Capra while the Nilgiri tahr is a sister of the genus Ovis and it was therefore separated into the monotypic genus Nilgiritragus in 2005.[5] The divergence from the common ancestor of Ovis and Nilgiritragus is estimated to about 2.7-5.2 million years ago. Estimates point to the genetic separation of the populations north (Nilgiris) and south (Anamalais) of the Palghat Gap about 1.5 million years ago.[6]

Description

Juvenile
Female
Nilagiri Thar video

The Nilgiri tahr is a stocky goat with short, coarse fur and a bristly mane. Males are larger than females and of darker colour when mature. Both sexes have curved horns, reaching up to 40 cm (16 in) for males and 30 cm (12 in) for females. Adult males weigh 80 to 100 kg (180 to 220 lb) and stand about 100 cm (39 in) tall at the shoulder. Adult males develop a light grey area on their backs, thus are called "saddlebacks".[2]

Distribution and habitat

The Nilgiri tahr can be found only in India. It inhabits the open

montane grassland habitat of the South Western Ghats montane rain forests ecoregion. At elevations from 1,200 to 2,600 m (3,900 to 8,500 ft), the forests open into large grasslands interspersed with pockets of stunted forests, locally known as sholas. These grassland habitats are surrounded by dense forests at the lower elevations. The Nilgiri tahrs formerly ranged over these grasslands in large herds, but hunting and poaching in the 19th century reduced their population.[1]

Threats

The Nilgiri tahr is primarily threatened by

habitat loss and disturbance caused by invasive species, and in some sites by livestock grazing, poaching and fragmentation of the landscape.[1]

Conservation

As few as 100 Nilgiri tahrs were left in the wild by the end of 20th century. Since that time, their numbers have increased somewhat; in a comprehensive study of the Nilgiri tahr population in Western Ghats, the WWF-India has put the population at 3,122.

Anamalai Hills, Periyar National Park, Palani Hills, and other pockets in the Western Ghats south of Eravikulam, almost to India's southern tip. A small population of tahrs numbering around 200 is known to inhabit the Boothapandi, Azhakiyapandipuram, Velimalai, Kulasekaram, and Kaliyal Ranges in the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu [9] and another small herd of less than 30 animals is known to inhabit Ponmudi Hills in Trivandrum district of Kerala.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T9917A13026736.en
    . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b Prater, S. H. (1971) [1948]. The book of Indian Animals. Bombay: Bombay Natural History Society.
  3. ^ Liddell, H. G.; Scott, R. (1940). "τράγος". A Greek–English Lexicon (Ninth ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  4. OCLC 4008435
    .
  5. PMID 15904863
    .
  6. PMID 33474132
    .
  7. ^ "Nilgiri tahr population over 3,000: WWF-India". The Hindu. 3 October 2015.
  8. ^ "Munnar Hill Station". Kerala Tourism. Archived from the original on 18 January 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  9. ^ "Bonnet Macaque tops in wildlife survey in Kanyakumari district"
  10. ^ "Squeezing Life out of Ponmudi"

Further reading

  • Rice, G. Clifford, Reproductive biology of Nilgiri tahr, Journal of Zoology, London (PDF Archived 20 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine)
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