Small carnivores of Parambikulam Tiger Reserve, southern Western Ghats, India

Abstract

The first ever detailed study on the small carnivores of the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve (PkTR) in the southern Western Ghats, using camera trap techniques, reported 11 species. A total of 1,350 camera-trap nights were used for the study. This was supplemented with 242km of day transects and 344km of night transects using spot-lights. The small carnivores reported were the Small Indian Civet Viverricula indica, Common Palm Civet Paradoxurus hermaphroditus, Brown Palm Civet Paradoxurus jerdoni, Indian Grey Mongoose Herpestes edwardsii, Stripe-necked Mongoose Herpestes vitticollis, Brown Mongoose Herpestes fuscus, Ruddy Mongoose Herpestes smithii, Smooth-coated Otter Lutrogale perspicillata, Nilgiri Marten Martes gwatkinsii, Jungle Cat Felis chaus and Leopard Cat Prionailurus bengalensis. About 90% of the small carnivores captured in the camera traps in PKTR were members of the Viverridae family such as the Small Indian Civet (31.67%), Common Palm Civet (30%) and Brown Palm Civet (28.33%). The study recorded all the four species of mongoose known from the Western Ghats from PkTR. Two out of the 11 small carnivores belong to the ‘Vulnerable’ category on the IUCN Red List.

Keywords

• Anamalai Hills
• camera trap
• endemism
• Felis, Herpestes, IUCN Red List, Lutrogale, Martes, Paradoxurus
• Prionailurus
• Viverricula
• Viverridae.