Conservation issues and WWF-India’s interventions
Conservation Issues:
The Nilgiri tahr symbolizes the conflicts inherent in conservation of threatened fauna and their habitat. Their number totals around 2200 – 2500 individuals in the wild. Nilgiri tahrs exist only in small, isolated populations due to extreme habitat fragmentation and illegal hunting. They are, as a result, vulnerable to local extinction.
The reasons for the decline of tahr populations have not been fully understood. Despite several studies over the years, there are only rough estimations of Nilgiri tahr populations. The species has always been under severe stress on account of the construction of numerous hydroelectric projects, timber felling and monoculture plantation of eucalyptus and wattles. All these development activities, especially the plantation activities affect the heart of the tahr habitat, which are the grasslands-sholas.
The reasons for the decline of tahr populations have not been fully understood. Despite several studies over the years, there are only rough estimations of Nilgiri tahr populations. The species has always been under severe stress on account of the construction of numerous hydroelectric projects, timber felling and monoculture plantation of eucalyptus and wattles. All these development activities, especially the plantation activities affect the heart of the tahr habitat, which are the grasslands-sholas.
WWF-India's Interventions:
WWF-India has initiated a comprehensive study in the hills of Tamil Nadu and Kerala to understand the present population and ecological requirements of Nilgiri tahr. The study has just been completed in Mukurthi National Park of Tamil Nadu and Silent Valley National Park of Kerala, and has moved further south.