Himalayan Tahr

Himalayan Tahr
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Bovidae
Subfamily:	Caprinae
Genus:	Hemitragus
Species:	H. jemlahicus
Binomial name
Hemitragus jemlahicus (C. H. Smith, 1826)

The Himalayan Tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus), also known as the Himalayan Thar or the Common Thar, is a large ungulate related to the wild goat and the only extant member of the genus Hemitragus.

Habitat

Its native habitat is in the rugged wooded hills and mountain slopes of the Himalaya in Nepal from Central Asia in northern Kashmir to China. It spends the summers grazing in high pastures, then comes down the mountains and forms mixed-sex herds in the winter. It was first identified by Charles Hamilton Smith and included in Cuvier's Animal Kingdom, 1827, etc.^{[citation needed]}

Biology

It has a small head with large eyes and small pointed ears and red circles on its cheeks. The Himalayan Tahr is a goat-like animal, with small horns on its heads. Its hooves have a flexible, rubbery core that allows it to grip smooth rocks, while the hard, sharp rim can lodge into small footholds. Males are larger and have different coloration and horn structure than the females. Adult Himalayan Tahr range from 135 to 180 kg (300 to 400 lb) in weight, 120 to 170 cm in length, and 60 to 90 cm in height. It is a herbivore, subsisting on grass, shrubs, and trees. The gestation period is seven months, and usually only one kid is born at a time. The young tahr nurses for about six months, and may follow its mother for up to two years. In the wild, tahr can live up to 15 years, though ten years is more typical.^{[citation needed]}

Taxonomy and classification

Traditionally, all three species of tahrs were placed in the genus Hemitragus. However, recent genetic studies have shown that the three species are not as closely related as had previously been thought. Consequently, it has been recommended moving the Nilgiri Tahr to the genus Nilgiritragus and the Arabian Tahr to Arabitragus, thereby leaving Hemitragus for the Himalayan Tahr.

As an alien species

Young Himalayan Tahr

Feral Himalayan Tahr are an introduced species in the South Island of New Zealand, with herds forming in the Southern Alps. In large numbers tahr are regarded as a pest because their browsing has an impact on native vegetation. Tahr hunting is a recreational sport and commercial activity. Tahr have also been introduced to New Mexico, California, and Ontario for hunting in safari parks.

South Africa

There is a small population of tahr on Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. This population is descended from a pair of tahrs which escaped from a zoo in the 1930s. Most of the population has been culled to make way for the reintroduction of the indigenous antelope known as the Klipspringer.

External links

• ARKive - Images and movies of the Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus)
• Fact sheet on the Himalayan tahr