Joint Nilgiri tahr census from Thursday; grasslands, rocky terrain of ENP attract tahrs

A Nilgiri tahr and its calf in the Eravikulam National Park, near Munnar, in Idukki.
| Photo Credit: JOMON PAMPAVALLEY

A four-day interstate Nilgiri tahr census will begin on Thursday (April 24).

According to Forest department officers, Kerala and Tamil Nadu will jointly conduct the census from April 24 to 27. Minister for Forests A.K. Saseendran said that the Forest department had already completed all arrangements for the survey.

Eravikulam National Park (ENP) Assistant Wildlife Warden Nithin Lal said that the grasslands and rocky hills were the most favourable habitat for the Nilgiri tahr. “At the ENP, the grasslands ensure food availability for Nilgiri tahrs. It is the major reason why the ENP continues to be the major habitat for Nilgiri tahrs in the State,” said Mr. Lal.

According to the Forest department officers, Nilgiri tahrs prefer grasslands, shola forests and steep rocky terrains.

“The ENP carries out controlled burning in its grasslands and the fresh grass that grows afterwards ensures food for the calves. Earlier, the presence of Nilgiri tahrs was noticed in the Munnar forest division areas. But after the planting of exotic varieties there, the food availability for the Nilgiri tahrs reduced, and they moved away from these areas. The proposed Neelakurinji sanctuary areas in Vattavada and Kottakkamboor are also filled with exotic species, and surveys have recorded very low presence of Nilgiri tahrs in these areas,” said a Forest department source.

“Once Nilgiri tahrs were found in most parts of the Western Ghats. But due to habitat destruction, the presence of tahrs is now limited to isolated areas,” said the source.

100 new births

According to officials, in this calving season, over 100 new births have been reported in the ENP. Munnar wildlife warden K.V. Harikrishnan said that in the previous census, 817 tahrs and 144 calves were found in the ENP.

Chief Wildlife Warden Pramod G. Krishnan said that camera traps would be deployed and pellet samples would be collected from selected blocks for scientific analysis, including studies on genetic variation. Officials said that Pramod P.P., field director of the Periyar Tiger Reserve, had been appointed as the nodal officer for the census.

Officials from the Forest department stated that the joint survey was being taken up to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the ENP.