Nilgiri Tahr (Nilgiritragus Hylocrius), known locally as the Nilgiri Ibex or simply Ibex.
It is also called ‘Varayadu’ in Malayalam and nicknamed the ‘cloud goat’ because it is often seen moving in and out of mist, fog and cloud.
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Nilgiri Tahr (Nilgiritragus hylocrius) is an ungulate living in the ranges of Western ghat mountains of Kerala, most of them are seen in Eravikulam National Park. They are also found in small groups at Nilgiri hills, Siruveni Hills , Elival Mala, Nelliampathi Hills, Top Slip & Parambikulam, Eastern Slopes of Ananmala, Grass hills of Anamala, Swamaimala …etc.
Towering cliffs and crags that would be considered inaccessible to most other animals are their natural habitat largely confined to altitudes from 1200 to 2600 m.
Both males and females have short and wrinkled horns, with a rounded outer surface. horns are bigger in males.
Adult males are much larger and darker in color than females.
Bucks turn a deep black-brown as they age and develop a distinctive, whitish saddle patch on their loins.
Nigiri Tahr is declared an endangered species in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Mammals with surviving number estimated just below 2000 animals.
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