BIENNIAL SYNCHRONIZED SURVEY OF NILGIRI TAHR

• The first synchronized survey of Nilgiri Tahr was conducted in Tamil Nadu & Kerala as a 3-day protocol across 3 Tiger Reserves namely Anamalai Tiger Reserve, Srivilliputhur Megamalai Tiger Reserve, Kalakkad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve and in Mukurthi National Park.    

•  The Nilgiri Tahr habitats of Tamil Nadu were segregated into 140 feasible survey blocks of 13 Forest Divisions. The methodology was chosen based on the results of a Pilot survey conducted at Grass Hills National Park.

•   The bounded count methodology was followed in fragmented habitats which were adopted all over the isolated Nilgiri Tahr distributional ranges.

 

• Similarly, a statistically robust Double observer method was adopted to enumerate a large population in two well-protected areas namely Grass Hills National Park and Mukurthi National Park and adjoining Kerala blocks.

 

• Capacity building and training programs were conducted for frontline field staff. Around 708 members were directly involved in the Nilgiri Tahr population estimation exercise and the foot survey covered about 1862 km area. During the survey, the third-party observer, Dr. Yash Veer Bhatnagar, Country Representative, IUCN, New Delhi was invited and Drones were used for documentation. 

 

• The results of the first synchronized survey of Nilgiri tahr serves as the baseline data for conservation planning and understanding the ecological status of the animal and extenuation of management practices. The future plans include periodic surveys across Tahr habitats, elimination of anthropogenic pressures in historic habitats to facilitate recolonization of Nilgiri Tahr, delineation and mapping of newly colonized habitats etc. The exercise also helps to identify the potential sites for reintroduction of Nilgiri Tahr. Periodic surveys help to define the population trend, neonatality rate, survival rate and average life span of Nilgiri Tahr.