Tahr

Tahr Meaning and Definition: Tahr is a large ungulated, hoofed animal (that bears its entire body weight on two toes of the five and that are the third and the fourth and the others are either present or absent, vestigial or pointing as per the pose) that belongs to the genus Hemitragus. They have been divided into three species that are all native to Asia. primarily they are Himalayan Torah that is mostly studied and popular then is Nilgiri followed by Arabian tahr. Earlier it was believed by the scientists that the species are closely related to each other and thus was assigned a single genus Hemitragus but later by their genetic study, it was clear that they have characteristic differences and then were put into monotype genera of Hemitragus the three tahr categories.

Tahr is a native animal of the Himalayan ranging from India to Nepal was gifted by Nepal to New-zealand about 100 years ago where they found in the Southern islands and southern alps as their ideal habitat. In New Zealand, they are the active dwellers of the Southern Central Alps that is between the Rakaia and Whitcombe valleys in the north to the Lake Hawea to the south. But their main population density is in the area of Mt Cook in the central south island. They are often seen in the alpine grassland zone where they mostly feed by gazing at the subalpine’s shrub plants, snow tussocks and alpine herbs as their first preference. They were generally introduced to New Zealand in the early 20th century primarily for hunting purposes as they have grown in thousands and became a threat to indigenous vegetation. Later they were introduced to table mountains in South Africa and then in Argentina. 

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Types of Tahr

Himalayan Tahr

1. Description

Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus) has short legs and short heads with males larger than females. The average male weight is 73 kgs whereas that of a female is 36kgs. They have a soft spongy convex padding that is surrounded by hard keratin surrounding and very well adapted hooves for cohabitating in mountains throughout the year. The hooves and the strong dewclaws make them excellent climbers.

In winters the face and the muzzle become dark for the male adult. The sides and the hindquarters adopt a reddish-brown colouration with a reddish patch and the underside is lighter in comparison to the upper surface. Around the neck, shoulder and the lower area of the front leg have thick ruff. The ruff or the mane is roughly 250 cm long and ranges from slat-grey to straw coloured. The female tahr is greyish brown in winters with lighter underpart and dark muzzles and legs. The adults in summer have lighter coats of brown to straw coloured for both the sexes. The youngs have uniform colour but the front leg is black. Both sexes have a curved horn that goes back and then inwards. Males horns are of 450 mm height while females have 190mm height

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2. Habitat

They mostly dwell in the sub-alpine and alpine regions that have rugged wooded hills as well as slopes. They prefer to live at an elevation of 3300-4500 meters. Sometimes seasonally they come down to an elevation of 2500 meters at mixed oak forests and sometimes rises to 5000m elevation to the alpine meadows. In New Zealand, this particular species loves to dwell on slopes of grassy mountains. Rock bluff, tussock basins and the subalpine scrubland at 750 to 2250 meters elevation.

3. Reproduction

Usually, the males and the females live in separate groups with the youngs dwelling in their own group. The overlapping of the regions happen only during the mating season and in the summers the males move further away from the female group. The mating season in the Himalayas ranges from mid-October to mid-January whereas in New-zealand it ranges from April to July where the peak run is either in May or June. This is because of the six-month shift from the northern to the southern hemisphere. After mating the females leave the group to give birth individually. The young born are ready to walk in few minutes and are capable of nursing themselves. This takes at most three hours. The females return to the group in few days. Both males and females are sexually mature at the age of 2. In the Himalayas, birth occurs from mid-April to Mid July whereas in New Zealand it happens around the 30th of November. 

Their normal lifespan ranges from 10 to 14 years while some of them have lived for 22 years as well. Females live longer than males.

4. Diet and Behaviour

Usually, they are social animals and live in a herd from 2 to 23. They are active in the early morning which is 3-4 hours post-dawn and in the late afternoon till 3-4 hours pre-dusk. They spend most of the day resting. They usually move uphill during the daytime and take a rest in middle and then move downhill again at the dawn.

During winters they eat less due to poor foliage quality with high metabolic costs. It loves to gaze on the alpine herbs and the subalpine scrubland plants. They harmed the native vegetation due to the massive gazing and the native fauna is now seen very rarely.

Arabian Tahr

1. Description

The Arabian tahr, scientifically known as Hemitragus jayakari is the smallest of all the tahr species. The horns of both the males and the females are pointed backwards and the horns of the males are longer and denser as compared to females. Their hair is reddish and long with brown stripes that are running downwards the body starting from the head to the back and then to the tail. The males grow noticeably more ruff round the year along their back. They also have impressive long hair on their chest, chin and that extends to their forelegs which is also quite long. They have supple hooves that provide balance and taction during their movements in mountain areas. The weight of males is about 40 kgs whereas females have a weight ranging between 17 to 20kg. Both males and females have 59.7 to 63.5 cm height at the shoulders.

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2. Habitat 

They are currently inhabiting the Hajar mountains located in the United Arab and are also seen in the northern part of Oman. They are currently ranging from 8863 square km whereas their total range is around 15787 square kilometres.

They are mostly the common dwellers of the north slopes of the Hajar Mountains and the Musandan masifs where they stay on the steep grounds. Most of their population density is found in the rainy slopes of the mountain as they have enough water and vegetation for them to survive throughout the year. Arabian tahrs are totally dependent on the wadis which are the water sources down the valleys. 

3. Reproduction

They are monogamous in nature that is only one male mates with one female and they are very docile when comes to defending or marking territories. They mostly use horns while two males combat for a female and they usually mark their mate and the matting territory with their urine. Breeding among the Arabian tahr goes all round the year. They are mostly the opportunistic breeders where they find their mates and make a group of two to four individuals and that becomes an exclusive group. But they do not mate in groups. Though the mating season is throughout the years, optimum mating occurs in the month of November to December. Females can give birth to a maximum of two offspring after a gestation period that lasts for 140 to 144 days. Thus the peak birth month for the female Arabian tahr is March and April. The sexual maturity of the Arabian thars attains at the age of two or three.  

Their lifespan in the wild is lower due to the daily struggle with the predators and the cutting down of their natural habitat and the vegetation but in captivity, they live as long as 22 years.  

4. Behaviour and Diet

They start gazing from the early morning and throughout the till a few hours before dusk. Thus they are diurnal by nature. they sometimes climb up the steep mountain slopes in search of good foliage and water and sometimes decent downhill to reach the water source called Wadis. They are found in small groups but are solitary in nature. The group comprises of 3 to 4 members that may include the female and her young, the male and the female or the male and female with their young. But when in captivity they form larger groups.

As strict gazer, they mostly feed on grass, leaves, seeds, fruits, barks and mostly prefers diversity in vegetation. In summers as the water resources become very scant, thus it usually affects the Arabian tahr’s condition a lot in the worst way.

Nilgiri Tahr

1. Description

They have short, laterally flattened and quite inward curved horns with short coats. Males are usually black but have a silvery lower part of the back with a stiff and pricky textured mane. Whereas, females are greyish-brown in colour with a fairly white belly. The measurement of the males and females of Nilgiri Tahr is the same with head to body length ranging from 90 to 140 cms, the shoulder height is 61 to 106 cm and the length of the tail is 9 to 12 cms. They weigh around 50 to 100 kgs.

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2. Habitat

Once they were abundantly found in southern India in the grass woodland mosaic habitat of rugged hills and mountains situated in the state of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. now as they are being endangered they have shifted their habitat and concentrated in the Westernghat mountains of Southern India. They are now merely found in the 17 locations that include Nilgiri, Annamalai, Palani and highway hills, in the high range of the Eravikulam area and in few other mountains of Western Ghats. 

3. Reproduction 

Their breeding season runs throughout the year but the peak season of breeding is in the month of winters. Mostly a single offspring is born at once after a gestation period of about 180 to 242 days. The females are able to give birth to the offspring twice a year.  They can breed well in captivity. Males usually battles on slopes before mating to win over the female. 

4. Behaviour and Diet

They are intermittently active from dawn to dusk and are the primary gazers. They are social animals and live in a herd of a minimum of 6 to a maximum of 104 animals. The average group size of females is 9 and 27 for mixed herds. They prefer various grasses and forbs. The tahrs use their horns in defence of any predation. The primary predators of the tahr are tigers, Indian wolves, dholes and the primary predators are humans. 

Conservation of Tahr Goat

Under the protection law of the government act of India since 1972, the endangered Nilgiri species are protected. They are threatened by poaching, grazing by other livestock, habitation loss of vegetation and forest lands, hydrolytic projects and wattle plantation. In the year 1986, the total counts of the Nilgiri tahr were around 2000 to 2200 which is still relatively unchanged since 1987. 

For the Arabian species, the last left species of the same was killed in the year 1972. Since then there were many unconfirmed reports. In the 1950s the efforts were put in jointly by many Arabian countries to establish captive herds. In the year 1962, some of the Arabian oryx species were brought to the US for breeding as a part of international breeding efforts and then were again reintroduced in the areas of Jordan in 1983, Oman in 1982 and Saudi Arabia in 1990. Till now there have been more than 500 individuals in the wild, 300 in captivity and 2000 has been held elsewhere.