Ecology & conservation of small carnivores in the Western Ghats Devcharan Jathanna Centre for Wildlife Studies Citation: Jathanna, D. 2014. Ecology & conservation of small carnivores in the Western Ghats: final report submitted to CEPF/ATREE. Centre for Wildlife Studies, Bangalore. Devcharan Jathanna Research Associate Centre for Wildlife Studies 1669, 16th Main, 31st Cross, Banashankari 2nd Stage Bangalore, 560 070, Karnataka Email:
[email protected] Centre for Wildlife Studies, Bangalore Supported by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund – ATREE Small Grants Program Page 2 of 36 SUMMARY Despite the important roles small carnivores play in forests, little research or conservation attention has been directed at these species in the Western Ghats, which harbours a rich assemblage. Consequently, little is known about their conservation status, biology, ecological requirements and responses to human activities. This project attempted to address this critical knowledge gap by examining the conservation status, occurrence patterns, threats, space use and other aspects of basic biology of three small carnivore species endemic to the Western Ghats: Nilgiri marten, brown mongoose and stripe-necked mongoose. These aspects were studied using a variety of approaches and techniques including unstructured interview and key informant surveys, encounter rate surveys, scat collection and camera trapping. During the project I also carried out some preliminary work towards later, in-depth field research such as collecting DNA samples from museum specimens,