Once on the edge of extinction, the Nilgiri Tahr is making a comeback — a major conservation win for India. Behind this success is one of India's most ambitious single-species recovery programmes.
In 2023, a WWF-India study revealed that the Nilgiri Tahr had become locally extinct in around 14% of its historic high-altitude shola-grassland habitat in the Western Ghats.
Why did this matter? Because the Nilgiri Tahr — also Tamil Nadu’s state animal — is crucial for maintaining essential ecosystem processes in the shola-grassland system, one of the most threatened ecosystems worldwide.
And why are the shola-grasslands so vital? Home to species found nowhere else, they are more reliable carbon sinks than forests because all carbon storage happens below the ground surface — in the roots.
This is why Tamil Nadu launched a one-of-a-kind conservation project to save the Varai Aadu — as the Nilgiri Tahr is known locally. Interestingly, their gravity-defying cliff-climbing skills have also earned them the nickname 'Mountain Monarch'.
This project also found an unlikely ally — Sangam-era literature written nearly 2,000 years ago. Epics like Silappatikaram described landscapes where Tahr once roamed. Combining these clues with modern science revealed overlooked habitats.
What followed was an incredible effort. Locals and foresters worked hand in hand on shola grassland restoration, radio-collaring, drone surveillance, captive breeding, and reintroduction of the Tahr into lost habitats.
Pulling the species back from the edge, the project's impact is already visible. An April 2025 survey recorded a 21% rise in Nilgiri Tahr numbers — the highest in decades. A conservation milestone indeed!