HIMALAYAN TAHR

Hemitragus jemlahicus

Physical Description

Tahrs are related to wild goats. The Himalayan Tahr, one of the three species of tahrs, is native to the southern range of the Himalayan Mountains. The Himalayan Tahr has a thick, shaggy, dual-layered coat. In the winter, this coat keeps the Tahr warm. Males additionally grow a long mane around their neck and shoulders that extends down to their forelegs in the winter.

Adult male tahrs are reddish-brown to black with lighter underparts, a dark face, a dark muzzle, and a reddish rump patch. Males darken in color and develop a light band along their flanks as well as a dark stripe down their backs as they age. Females are grey to brown with a dark muzzle, dark legs, and light underparts.

Young tahrs have a solid brown coat, except for the fronts of their legs, which are black. As temperatures rise in the spring, the Himalayan Tahr’s coat thins and lightens in colour.

The Himalayan Tahr’s head is small in proportion to its body size, but the Tahr’s eyes are large. The ears of the Himalayan Tahr are small and pointed. Both male and female tahrs have triangular horns that curve abruptly backwards and then inwards.

The Himalayan Tahr’s horns reach a maximum length of 45 centimetres (18 inches). The horns of female tahrs are much smaller than the horns of the males.

The curvature of the Himalayan Tahr’s horns protects male tahrs from being seriously injured in the head-butting battles that occur during the Tahr’s mating season.

The Himalayan Tahr has no facial glands, but the Tahr’s tail contains a large number of glands that secrete a very strong-smelling substance.

The Himalayan Tahr has short legs in comparison to the size of its body. The Tahr’s hooves and dewclaws enable the animal to move adeptly through rocky terrain. The hooves are flexible and rubbery in the center, which provides grip on smooth surfaces, and rimmed with hard, sharp keratin on the outside, which allows the Tahr to secure footholds when climbing.

The Himalayan Tahr has a body length of 90 to 140 centimetres (three to 4.7 feet) and a tail length of nine to 12 centimetres (3.6 to 4.8 inches). The Tahr stands 65 to 100 centimetres (2.1 to 3.3 feet) tall at the shoulder. The average weight of male tahrs is 73 kilograms (161 pounds) and the average weight of female tahrs is 36 kilograms (79 pounds).

 

Habitat

The Himalayan Tahr inhabits forested hills and mountains and alpine meadows, at elevations from 2,500 to 5,000 metres (8,200 to 16,400 feet). In the winter, the Tahr descends to lower elevations, where more cover is available, and in the summer, it ascends to alpine meadows at high elevations. The Himalayan Tahr is confined to the southern range of the Himalayan Mountains and occurs in northern India, Nepal, Bhutan, and southern Tibet.

Protected areas in which the Himalayan Tahr can be found include the Kishtwar National Park, the Great Himalayan National Park, and the 33,819 square-kilometer Qomalanga Nature Preserve that was established in 1989 in the region surrounding Mt. Everest.

 

Eating Habits

The Himalayan Tahr is a ruminant. The Tahr eats herbs, grasses, and the leaves of shrubs and trees. The Tahr can rear up on its hind legs to reach tall branches and hold branches down with its forelegs while it eats. The Himalayan Tahr eats less in the winter due to poor food quality and high metabolic costs.

 

Behaviour and Reproduction

The Himalayan Tahr is most active during the early morning and the late afternoon. In the morning the Tahr moves upslope, where it spends at least half of the hours of daylight ruminating and resting. In the evening, the Himalayan Tahr returns to lower areas. Older tahrs tend to be solitary, but most tahrs live in herds of generally between two and 23 animals, or sometimes as many as 80. Except during the breeding season, males and females live separately, the males in all-male herds and the females in herds composed of females and tahrs under two years of age. Male herds are larger than female herds.

The Himalayan Tahr reaches sexually maturity at about two years of age. The Tahr’s breeding season lasts from October to January. During the breeding season, mature males compete with each other for mating privileges. Males younger than four years of age are rarely successful in securing a partner to mate with. The Himalayan Tahr’s gestation period is seven months.

Pregnant females leave the herds before giving birth and do not return until a few days after young have been born. Females give birth to one, or, occasionally, to two kids. Kids begin nursing within a few minutes and are able to walk after about three hours. Kids are weaned at six months of age but remain with their mothers for up to two years.

In the wild, the Himalayan Tahr’s life span is approximately 10 to 14 years, whereas tahrs in captivity may live for up to 22 years. The Tahr is a shy animal, fleeing from potential sources of danger. The Himalayan Tahr’s only known natural predators are snow leopards. Tahrs may also be killed in rock slides and avalanches.

 

Present Status

The Himalayan Tahr is categorized as Vulnerable in the 2003 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The Himalayan Tahr is included in Schedule III of the Indian Wild Life (Protection) Act of 1972.

 

Threats to Survival

The main threat to the Himalayan Tahr’s survival is habitat loss, due to logging and the construction of human settlements. Other threats to the Tahr include increasing competition for forage with domesticated animals and hunting. The Himalayan Tahr is hunted for sport and food. Military conflicts in northern India have led to an increase in firearms along the national borders in the Himalayan region, which has in turn resulted in more tahr deaths.

 

References

America Zoo, Himalayan tahr, http://www.americazoo.com/goto/index/mammals/420.htm, Aug 2004.

ARKive, Himalayn Tahr – Hemitragus jemlahicus: More Information – ARKive, http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/mammals/

Hemitragus_jemlahicus/more_info.html, Oct 2004.

Blue Planet Biomes, Himalayan Tahr – Hemitragus jemlahicus, http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/himalayan_tahr.htm, Oct 2004.

Caprinae Specialist Group, 1996: Hemitragus jemlahicus. In: IUCN, 2003: 2003 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, http://

www.redlist.org, Aug 2004.

Huffman, Brent, Ultimate Ungulate Fact Sheet – Himalayan Tahr, http://www.ultimateungulate.com/Artiodactyla/

Hemitragus_jemlahicus.html, Aug 2004.

Kennedy, Sara, 2002: Hemitragus jemlahicus, Animal Diversity Web, http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/

Hemitragus_jemlahicus.html, Oct 2004.

By: Environment and Development Desk, DIIR, CTA.