Tamil Nadu Government has announced the ‘Nilgiri Tahr Project’, India’s first-of-its-kind initiative aimed at restoring the state animal’s original habitat and stabilizing its population. The ‘Nilgiri Tahr Project’ is a five-year program with a budget of Rs 25.14 crore.
It will also have a dedicated team chaired by the project director to deal with species conservation. The team will explore the possibility of undertaking captive breeding of the animals for re-introduction in forest patches where it has become locally extinct.
Buy Prime Test Series for all Banking, SSC, Insurance & other exams
Tamil Nadu Launched Project Nilgiri Tahr with Rs 25 Crore Budget- Key Points
- The government has ordered to conduct of synchronized surveys by the forest department across the Tahr range.
- The survey will include an understanding of movement patterns, habitat use and behavior, and radio-telemetry studies.
- The additional chief secretary of the environment, forest, and climate change department, Supriya Sahu informed us that this project was devised in line with Project Tiger and Project Elephant.
- The presence of Nilgiri Tahr has been confirmed in a total of 123 habitat fragments ranging in area from 0.04 sq km to 161.69 sq km.
- The species has become locally extinct in around 14% of its traditional habitat in the past few decades.