The mountain monarch: Western Ghats’ grassland guardian has emerged from the shadows, but may not stay for long

Few beings would know the Western Ghats as well as the Nilgiri tahr. For centuries, the ungulate has freely roamed the wind-swept shola forests interspersed with grassland habitats. The stocky, well-built goat, with distinctive curving horns and sure-footed gait, is perfectly adapted to steep cliffs and alpine meadows. Males, known as saddlebacks for the silvery patch along their spine, are particularly striking against the deep green backdrop: when the first light hits the slopes above Rajamala hills, one can watch them step out from behind grass tussocks.

In many ways, the Nilgiri tahr symbolises the hill tracts that form its only habitat. In ancient Tamil Sangam literature the ungulate, called varayãdu or mountain goat, is celebrated as a symbol of endurance and longing in the Kurinji landscape. Sangam poems describe wild goats leaping across stones in the blue hills, and later epics like Silappathikaram refer to spirited goats of the high country.

Folktales of the region’s Toda, Badaga and Kota tribal communities speak of shepherds who followed the tahr’s trail to escape storms. The ungulate is also important for the Muthuvan tribe that lives on the hills along the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. The elders say following tahr tracks in fog helps locate hidden springs and safe passes.

Over the past decades, however, encroachment of the grasslands for agriculture and tourism and spread of invasive species like wattle and eucalyptus reduced vast tahr habitats to a few isolated pockets. Rising temperatures also push tahrs to higher elevations. The fragmented populations became vulnerable to genetic isolation and disease. Now, this number has risen sharply; in early 2025, a survey conducted by the forest departments of Kerala and Tamil Nadu placed the total population of the ungulates at about 2,668 individuals. Kerala hosts around 1,365 tahrs, with the largest and most secure population of 841 tahrs found inside Eravikulam National Park near Munnar. Tamil Nadu accounts for about 1,303 tahrs.

This change has come after robust tahr conservation efforts. In 2023, Tamil Nadu named the ungulate its state animal and launched Project Tahr at a cost of R25.14 crore. A document on the project by the Tamil Nadu forest department mentions that protecting the ungulate is not only important culturally, but also because of the ecological functions it provides. “Wild ungulates such as the Nilgiri tahr play an important role in maintaining ecosystem structure, and are also determinants of predator populations. The Nilgiri tahr is also a generalist by food habit. They feed on around 120+ species of plants including grasses, herbs, shrubs, leguminous plants and also a few tree species. This has facilitated the mountain ecosystem to be fertile through the recycling process,” says the document.

Through Project Tahr, the government focuses on restoring native grasslands by removing invasive species and reviving traditional grasses such as Chrysopogon zeylanicus and Tripogon wightii. Forest officials also work with the Muthuvan tribes to understand tahr migration routes and feeding grounds. Kerala’s forest department initiated similar efforts, in Eravikulam and in Silent Valley National Park of Palakkad district, another major habitat for the tahr.

Both states are also mounting translocation efforts and habitat connectivity planning across the Western Ghats. The 2025 survey prompted the Kerala forest department to consider relocating some individuals to suitable but under-occupied ranges. The process involves identifying release zones, improving forage availability and creating holding facilities for soft release. Both states are mapping wildlife corridors to reconnect fragmented shola-grassland patches, especially in Mukurthi, Anamalai, Glenmorgan and Eravikulam.

Conservationists caution that translocation by itself carries risks if newly stocked areas are not ecologi-cally stable, but the current strategy signals a shift from merely protecting existing populations to restor-ing a healthier, interconnected landscape capable of supporting the species over the long term.

This was first published in the 15-31 December, 2025 Print edition of Down To Earth