On a trip to Munnar in Kerala a few years ago, I heard about the ‘rare goats’ that live in the nearby Eravikulam National Park. This immediately caught my fancy, simply because I’d never associated a goat with rarity. Once we reached the national park that drizzly afternoon, my perception of nature evolved slightly, thanks to a bunch of wild mountain goats, the Nilgiri tahr, also sometimes known as the Nilgiri ibex.
The horns of the tahrs struck me first. Both males and females grow thick, backward-curving horns that give them an imposing demeanour. For the males, their horns are a symbol of status and can grow to 40 cm in length. When two male competitors encounter each other, there are sure to be bouts of head-butting and tussling. Another practice that males sometimes follow to charm females is decorating their horns with grass and mud; they are also known to wet themselves with their own urine to attract the ladies.
Male tahrs will sometimes wear a crown of leaves to draw female attention. Photo: Alchimiae/Flickr
The tahrs’ love of fresh grass leads them to isolate themselves in the higher, grass-covered altitudes (1,200 to 2,600 metres) of the Western Ghats. It’s been noted that females and kids keep to their home-range for grazing, while males may sometimes risk the lower regions in search of grass.
In Tamil Nadu, the Nilgiri tahr is the state animal. In Tamil they are called varrai addu (“varrai” is a cliff or rocky outcrop, and adu is a goat).
Tahr rutting season is the monsoon and babies are usually born in January. Photo: Rajaneesh/Flickr
These happy campers have several unique characteristics. For instance, adult males have a light grey patch or “saddle” on their backs, which has given them the moniker “saddlebacks”. They are swift, sure-footed, and quick to disappear at the first sign of a human being. If you’re lucky enough to gaze at them for more than a few seconds, you will notice their coarse fur, curved horns, and dawdling orange eyes. The male tahr is a darker shade of brown, and females are greyish-brown in colour.
These expert climbers are aptly called varrai aadu, or ‘cliff goat’ in Tamil. Photo: Alchimiae /Flickr
The only species of mountain goat in the Western Ghats, the endangered Nilgiri tahr has been protected since 1972. It was severely threatened in the late 19th century owing to hunting and poaching, and though numbers have now increased, they are still an endangered species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Only a few thousand remain in the wild. With continued loss of habitat and threats from global warming this mountain goat needs all the protection it can get.
SPOT THEM:
Eravikulam National Park in Kerala is a well-known sanctuary for the Nilgiri tahr. They’re also found in Kerala’s Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary and Parambikulam Tiger Reserve, and in many parks in Tamil Nadu. With short summers and longer rainy seasons, the higher slopes of the Anamalai, Palani, Nilgiris, and Meghamalai Hills are the best habitats for this mountain goat.
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