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NILGIRIS
The Flora & Fauna
The lush forests, grasslands, and mountain slopes of the Nilgiris support a wide range of species. It is home to many rare plants, endemic wildlife, and vast ecosystems, making the Nilgiris a biodiversity hotspot.
Nilgiri Tahr
The Nilgiri tahr Nilgiritragus hylocrius, also known as the cloud goat, is an exceptionally agile mountain goat found amidst the high grassy plateaus and precipitous cliff faces of the Western Ghats. Here, they graze on coarse grass while keeping a watchful eye out for predators such as leopards and wild dogs.
Males group together in small bachelor herds and keep to the best grazing sites while females and young stay close to the safety of the cliff faces. Mature adult males stand in contrast to the females – they are much larger and heavier with a rich dark coat and a lighter grizzled patch on their backs, leading to the name ‘saddlebacks’.
A hundred years ago, tahr were found throughout the high, rugged peaks of the southern Western Ghats, but decades of sport hunting during the colonial period, poaching and habitat loss drastically reduced their numbers. Today the Nilgiri tahr is endangered and strictly protected. Their scattered populations, numbering approximately 3000, are steadily increasing.
Males group together in small bachelor herds and keep to the best grazing sites while females and young stay close to the safety of the cliff faces. Mature adult males stand in contrast to the females – they are much larger and heavier with a rich dark coat and a lighter grizzled patch on their backs, leading to the name ‘saddlebacks’.
A hundred years ago, tahr were found throughout the high, rugged peaks of the southern Western Ghats, but decades of sport hunting during the colonial period, poaching and habitat loss drastically reduced their numbers. Today the Nilgiri tahr is endangered and strictly protected. Their scattered populations, numbering approximately 3000, are steadily increasing.
Kurinji
The Kurinji Strobilanthes kunthiana is known for its synchronised flowering, the flowering cycles of which vary depending on the species . Of nearly 350 species of Stroblianthes occurring worldwide, over 150 are found in India, many of them only in the Western Ghats.These small shrubs often dominate the grasslands that surround the evergreen shola forests. The blue hues of the Neelakurinji Strobilanthes kunthiana which blossoms once every 12 years, colouring the hillsides blue with its mass bell-shaped flowers, as per some sources is believed to have lent its name to the Nilgiris.
Leopard
Although the leopard Panthera pardus is known to be the most adaptable and widespread of the large felines, its shy and elusive nature keeps it nearly invisible. Its striking coat of yellow and black rosettes varies from a tawny, golden hue in the common forms to nearly jet black in the the rarer melanistic form. Pound for pound it is one of the strongest big cats, able to kill and haul prey many times its size up trees.
Impatiens
Impatiens are a beautiful group of flowering plants found mostly in mountainous tropical and subtropical parts of the world.. They are especially well-suited to the wet forests of the Western Ghats, with nearly half of India’s over 200 species found here, with 90% of them being endemics. Impatiens are found mainly in shady, moist habitats along streams, on the forest floor, on rocky surfaces dripping with water, or as epiphytes growing on wet branches of trees.
Nilgiri Langur
A primate endemic to the southern Western Ghats, the Nilgiri langur Trachypithecus johnii makes its home in the dense evergreen forests of the Nilgiris. Although wiped out from many areas due to habitat degradation, the Nilgiri langur is making a slow and steady comeback with increased protection.
Frogs of the Nilgiris
Current knowledge lists approximately 411 species of frogs and toads in India. About half of them are found in the Western Ghats of which over 200 species are not found anywhere else on earth. The Western Ghats is truly the center for amphibian diversity in India, akin to other tropical landscapes, new species continuing to be added through further exploration and taxonomic revisions.
Hornbills & Fig Trees
A Great Hornbill feeds on ripened berries of Ficus drupacea. Figs, unlike other fruiting trees, have no particular season in which they fruit, and many animals have learned to map and follow the fruiting cycle of fig trees in the area. Hornbills in particular are important agents of seed dispersal, helping spread the seeds far from the parent plant.
Dhole
Wild dogs or dhole Cuon alpinus are the master predators of the Indian jungle, far more successful than tigers and leopards. They hunt in packs during daylight hours, often communicating with other members with a peculiar whistling call.
Asian Fairy Bluebird
A representative of Malayan biodiversity, an Asian Fairy-bluebird Irena puella finds itself at home in the wet forests of the Nilgiris. It is one of the many species in the Western Ghats that exemplifies a strong tie to the fauna that is more typical of mainland Asia. Birds, it is believed, colonised the Indian plate after it split from Gondwanaland and became part of Asia.
Tiger
The tiger Panthera tigris is the largest of the 15 species of felines found in India. It hunts mainly large animals like sambhar and gaur.
Poaching and pressures on their habitat have greatly reduced their numbers. Fewer than 4,000 tigers remain in India, making up over 70% of the world’s population of tigers. Stringent conservation measures need to be implemented in order to save the charismatic national animal of India.
Poaching and pressures on their habitat have greatly reduced their numbers. Fewer than 4,000 tigers remain in India, making up over 70% of the world’s population of tigers. Stringent conservation measures need to be implemented in order to save the charismatic national animal of India.
Fungi
Fungi are a large group of parasites and decomposers that include mushrooms, molds, and yeasts. Once grouped along with plants, fungi are now thought to be more closely related to animals and are treated as a separate kingdom.
Fish of the Nilgiris
The stream and rivers of the Nilgiris are home to about 288 species of fish. The diverse piscine fauna of this region represents 12 orders, 41 families and 109 genera, of which 118 species — representing 51 genera — are endemic. The southern parts of the region tend to support greater fish diversity than the north, and east-flowing waterways have richer fish fauna than west-flowing ones. The highest diversity of freshwater fishes is found in deep slow moving water.
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