GEOscope Shadowing Civets On the trail of Asia’s most elusive small carnivores

By T. R. Shankar Raman (text) and Kalyan Varma (photos)

EEP IN THE rainforest, the monotonous to a lull as dawn broke. Our task was to In retrospect, it is curious that even continue to occur in altered tropical Dplip-plip of the radio receiver kept locate K70 within his home range and this basic aspect of the civet’s ecology habitats such as logged forests or shade- strange rhythm with the chill-chill calls identify the day-bed chosen by the civet. was unknown when the researcher began coffee plantations. Yet, their populations of the stream frogs. Dawn sent gentle Civets are small cat-sized mammalian her studies in 1998 with a WCS Research are reduced and their long-term survival probing fingers of light through the carnivores, primarily active by night and Fellowship. Yet, this was so for the Brown in these rapidly transforming landscapes dense canopy, barely lighting the leaf- known to use tree hollows and notches palm civet and remains the case for the remains questionable. Whether civets can strewn forest floor. Through the lifting to rest during the daytime. Yet, when many civet species of South and South-east continue to survive in plantations if there mist we walked, the rich earthy scent of we finally located K70, we were in for a Asia. Being nocturnal and cryptic, often are no remnant forest tracts in the vicinity the forest in our nostrils, the morning air surprise. This was no hollow or tree-notch; restricted to dense forests, civets have is yet to be established. fresh on our faces, dew condensing on our K70 was curled up in a leafy nest of the been difficult to observe and document Much useful information on the Brown eyelashes. For miles on all sides stretched Indian giant squirrel placed on a stout in the wild. For most species, even today, palm civet was also generated in Mudappa’s unbroken rainforests within the Kalakad- branch around 80ft up in a Syzygium tree. we know little about their distributional study of the Western Ghats. Meticulous Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve. These Giant squirrels are sprightly arboreal range, food habits, habitat requirements, collection and observation of the scats exquisite forests swathe the slopes at the creatures that break twigs and leaves to social behaviour or breeding patterns in of these rainforest civets over three years southern end of India’s Western Ghats, build nests, called dreys, in the tree canopy the wild: almost all aspects we need to showed that, despite being taxonomically renowned for their biological diversity and of Asia’s moist tropical forests. Being rather know to understand civet ecology. categorised as carnivores, the animals endemic species. timid creatures, their dreys are chosen with Yet, the tide is turning. Using a slew consumed a great variety of fruit throughout Ears glued to her headphones and care on tall, large-boled trees. A single of methods from traditional spoor the year. Around 60 species of rainforest directional Yagi antenna held aloft, Giant squirrel may build 4-8 dreys within surveys and nocturnal spot-lighting with trees and lianas provided fruits eaten by biologist Divya Mudappa worked her way its home range of 2–3 acres, although it binoculars to modern techniques such as the civets, mainly pulpy drupes and berries. through the undergrowth. We were on the does not use them all at the same time. radio-telemetry, motion-sensitive infra-red The Palm civets’ (family Paradoxurinae) trail of the first radio-collared Brown palm Within a civet’s larger home range, there camera traps and DNA analysis, backed up predilection for fruit has long been known, civet, one of Asia’s most elusive and least may be dozens of such nests, most unused. by hundreds of miles of footwork, biologists but its extent and year-round consumption known small carnivores. This civet species The civets appear to capitalise on the are throwing light on the darkness that has had not been proven. is endemic to the tropical rainforests availability of these dreys, using some as shrouded these elusive creatures. Studies A little further along the trail in of the Western Ghats mountain range day-beds. Although no direct interaction from South and South-east Asian forests, Sengaltheri that morning, we came across running along India’s west coast, a global between squirrels and civets has been particularly over the last two decades, a small log that had fallen across the path. biodiversity hotspot. seen, perhaps they occasionally operate are helping to unravel the distribution On it was a Palm civet scat with eight In a swift operation the previous a civet-by-day and squirrel-by-night time- and ecology of the enigmatic civet. These Holigarna seeds, dark due to the black, skin night, after weeks of preparatory baiting, share with an amicable switch performed are timely studies, as large parts of this blister-inducing sap of this tree belonging Mudappa and her colleagues from the at dusk. As Mudappa’s research continued region have high rates of forest loss and to the mango family (Anacardiaceae). The Wildlife Institute of India had caught and and more civets were radio-tagged, she conversion coupled with high human scat also had numerous small fig seeds radio-tagged a sub-adult male, labelled found that over a third of the day-beds used populations. The handful of research and the remains of a beetle exoskeleton. A K70, and released him at the site of by Brown palm civets were Giant squirrel surveys carried out thus far has yielded significant aspect of the civet’s penchant capture. The activity-sensitive collar had dreys, the rest being in tree hollows, vine a mixed message. Civets appear resilient for a fruity diet is that they mostly consume signalled a night of lively activity leading tangles and the forks of branches. to habitat loss and alteration in that they only the pulp, passing the seeds virtually

Gleaming eyes or a dark shape is often all that one sees of nocturnal animals like this Brown palm civet (Paradoxurus jerdoni).

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undamaged through their scats. The for the Brown palm civet. Encounter and Mudappa’s initial survey and later work Two-thirds of the seedlings have survived civets of Sengaltheri were thus carrying photo-capture rates were higher here than with another field biologist, Nandini beyond two years. Coupled with natural thousands of mature seeds from ripe fruit in other disturbed forests or plantation Rajamani, were encouraging. In nocturnal regeneration, these protected sites are picked from the branches of rainforest trees areas. The team’s work also showed that surveys, they noted the species in dozens beginning to look more like rainforests. or lianas and depositing them at various individual civet home ranges here were of tropical rainforest localities, and even If this continues, one can visualise the re- distances in the surrounding forest—an less than 150 acres. This was considerably in some shade-coffee and cardamom emergence of the tall rainforest canopy invaluable service of seed dispersal. smaller than the home ranges—some plantations, from the southern tip of the with macaques, hornbills and Brown palm Through germination experiments, larger than 750 acres—reported by WCS Western Ghats northwards to Goa. civets eating fruits, dispersing seeds and Mudappa found that some species Scientist Alan Rabinowitz from studies Concurrently, an offshoot of the reviving natural cycles. appeared to benefit from such civet in the seasonal dry tropical forests of seed germination work carried out at Later that night in Sengaltheri, we went dispersal: seeds from scats germinated Thailand and also smaller than the 250- Sengaltheri began to yield results that radio-tracking K70 again. As darkness better or faster than seeds from ripe fruit acre ranges reported for Malay civets in seemed to point the way forward in descended over the slopes, he emerged that had not been lucky enough to be Borneo, which are the only comparable fragmented landscapes. At the end of from the day-bed and moved swiftly dispersed in this way. In some trees, such studies available. Mudappa attributed the germination study, it seemed only through the high canopy towards a as the elaeocarps that fruited copiously— this to an adequate, year-round supply of natural that the numerous rainforest tree fruiting tree. If not for the radio-collar, with perhaps too many fruits for them all fruit and the dense, relatively undisturbed and liana species raised could be planted we would have lost him in a minute. We wet evergreen forests all in degraded rainforests. So, in 2000, a around. On the flip side, she reforestation project was launched in surmised that in degraded the Anamalai Hills, a former rainforest habitats, due to lower plant landscape now covered by tea and coffee diversity, fruit availability plantations. Within these plantations and fewer suitable day- survive around 40 rainforest fragments bed sites, civets would ranging from 3 to 500 acres. Many of these occur at lower densities fragments are degraded due to logging or concurrently with the larger invasive weeds. Research indicated that home ranges needed to these pockets are of high conservation meet their needs. This was value because they help remnant partly confirmed when populations of endemic species such as she surveyed rainforests the endangered Lion-tailed macaques fragmented by tea and and Great and Malabar grey hornbills coffee plantations in the to survive. They also act as corridors for Anamalai hills, another large wildlife such as Asian elephants and region in the southern wild dogs or dhole that move between Western Ghats. The number adjoining protected areas. A question to be consumed by the civets—clusters of endemic Brown palm civets appeared mark hung over these wildlife populations shadowed him to the tree but we could not of ripe fruit lay rotting on the forest floor, to have declined, particularly compared as forest fragmentation continued. see him despite receiving the signals from their doomed seeds providing a bonanza to other more common and widely As an initial step for the restoration directly overhead. for seed-boring beetles. distributed small carnivores such as the program, the Nature Conservation The mewing call of a Large brown flying Recent research on many tropical small Indian civet and mongooses. Foundation, based in Mysore, established squirrel sounded from above and we rainforest plant species around the world At first, researchers thought that a nursery near Valparai in the Anamalai sensed rather than saw its swooping glide has highlighted how animals such as these results did not appear to bode well hills with support from local plantation from a high branch to land with a soft thud hornbills, macaques and civets impart a for the Brown palm civet. With annual companies. During the past eight years, against a low tree trunk nearby. A glint of survival benefit on seeds dispersed by deforestation rates still over 1%, the more than 100 tree and liana species eyes in the undergrowth was a Mouse deer them out of the vicinity of the parent tree. Western Ghats forests continue to be native to the mid-elevation tropical that offered a glimpse before melting away Nevertheless, palm civets tend to deposit altered and threatened due to the forces rainforests of this region have been raised into the forest. The tree canopy almost their scats on fallen or rotting logs, tree of development, urbanisation and forest from seed and nurtured in this nursery. Inset left: A Brown palm civet on a wild fig closed the sky over our heads, and only a trunks and rocks, and the fate of these conversion. In the previous decade, Brown After lobbying and gaining the support tree in a rainforest in the Western Ghats. slight glimmering of starlight showed seeds remains to be discovered. palm civets had been reported only in a of plantation companies including Tea Main: The Lion-tailed macaque, a fruit-eating through; the moon was yet to rise. Oblivious The verdant and diverse tropical few localities in the southern half of the Estates India, Parry Agro and Tata Coffee, primate, is also endemic to this region. to us, K70 moved briskly but silently away, rainforests of Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger mountain chain and their conservation more than 15,000 seedlings were planted Inset right: A Great hornbill in flight over a mere shadow in the darkness, into the Reserve appeared to be an excellent habitat status appeared precarious. Yet, Divya in eight degraded rainforest fragments. the rainforest canopy. rainforest of the night.

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