Nilgiri Tahr

About this species

Size

Males about 100cm at the shoulder

Weight

Males 80–100kg

Diet

Grass and small shrubs

Range

Nilgiri Hills and southern Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu and Kerala

The Nilgiri tahr is a stocky mountain goat with short, coarse, dark yellowish-brown fur and a paler underside; females and juveniles may be greyish. Males are larger, darken with maturity, and have a bristly mane on the back of the neck and a distinctive dark saddle patch, which earns them the name saddlebacks. Both sexes have backward-curving horns, up to 40 cm in males and 30 cm in females. Males stand about 100 cm at the shoulder and weigh 80–100 kg (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is endemic to the Nilgiri Hills and the southern Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and is the state animal of Tamil Nadu. It is an agile climber with keen eyesight and feeds mainly on grass and small shrubs. Key populations occur in Mukurthi and other national parks in Tamil Nadu, with smaller isolated groups in the Ponmudi Hills and Parambikulam in Kerala. It was once widespread across the Western Ghats but hunting and habitat loss left only a few hundred by the late 20th century (Wikipedia, general species account).

Description: Wildlife of India guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)