MusruuD & Vrvrnrun CoNsERVATToN

TheNewsletter of theIUCN/SSC Mustelid& ViverridSpecialist Group

Number2 April1990

:l':.. &

Europeanmink (Mustela tutreota). photo by VainoSilm & Tiit Maran.

withthe support ollhe "Roval zoological societv otAntwerp", Ilfr:'.I'r"i,;,fiiro'uced Mustelid & Viverrid Conservation The Newsletterof the IUCN/SSCMustelid & Vivenid SpecialistGroup.

Editor-in-chief: HarryVan Rompaey, Edegem, Belgium

Editors: MichaelRiffel, Karlsdorf,FRG Amd Schreiber,Heidelberg, FRG RolandWirth. Miinchen.FRG

Theviews expressed in this Newsletterare those of theauthors and do not necessarilyreflect those ofthe IUCN, nor the IUCN/SSCMusrelid & Vivenid SpecialistGroup. a

We are particularlygruteful to Walter Rasmussenfor readingthe manuscripts and improving the English style.

The aim of this Newsletteris to offer the membersof the IUCN/SSC M&VSG, and thosewho are concemedwith mustelidsorhnd viverrids, briefpapers, news items,abstmcts, and titles ofrecent literature. All readersare invited to sendmaterial to:

Mustelid & Viverrid Conservation c/o Dr. H. Van Rompaey Jan Verbertlei,l5 2520Edegem Belgium

(Martes Fisher pennanti): Bitth, growth and development in captivity Tom LaBARGE,Alan BAKERand Don MOORE

Introduction k'ls wercgrowing fnsr, and rhcjr fur cotorwas tight silvery gray. Aroundday 21. rhekits begaDro changccotor to a dark The North brown. Amcrican Fisher(Ma esrcn anti) is to\untl;ln mosllyaround their heads ard underpans. rhe Canadianand Transirionl,ita Zones.bur its oriSinatsouthem range has b.en reducedby overharvestand other anlhropogcnic lrcr{'s (Strickland e1 .l/.. 1983).Trrnstocrtions ot hundredsof Tablc l. Recordedweighrs (grans) oi 2.r Fisherkits fishe. ro supplcnrentdepresscd poputrrions t,uve ( ar rheBumet Park Zoo, Syracuse.N.y. t989 rhc lg30's and are rcviewcd by Bcrg 9t3t). AGE Male Male We hrle workedwith rhcse animats in caprivitysincc 1986 #M89016 #M89017 #M89018 rnd hrvc fend thenrro bc a chaltengjngspccjes. Ahhough relarivclycommon now throughoullnos( ot ils js range.ihc fisher l4 40ti.5 381.5 362.5 .arely exhibited and is difticult lo breed in crplivity rhe last 35 408.7 375.5 356.l caftive'brcd and bom fislers we.e rerordedi,r lhe tite.aturcin the l6 420.O 384.5 36tt.0 Itl20s (tlodgson. 1925).However, rherexre a i.cw fishcr which 31 444.5 40:t.5 368.t) claim rhestatus of'captive born'by viftrrcotrhe tact thatsome witd 38 159.9 4t].3 393.7 caughtIemales anived in captjvity p.cgnanl.\,! c were rorlunarcro 39 419.9 4:t4.1 407.0 ncquirea pregnantfcmale in January 1989and we srbsequcnlty 40 504.8 459.0 427.O hadone ofthe few Iilrersoffishen bom jn capljvity in.ony y"o.r. 4l 502.5 .160.0 429.'7 12 5t9.5 413.O 44t.5 Parturirionhas beenpreviously recorded from tareFebrn 4.1 522.1) 11't.1 147.0 afy throu8h early April; tirter size is I ,l with a mcan 01 2.7 534.5 1t9.s 457.9 lcoulter. 1966).On March 15, j986 our wild caughrf€male gave 45 519.9 498.5 460.0 birth 1()ltwo male andone iemalekirs in a remolc,quiel areaot.our 4'1 549.0 527.0 466.0 tllcilily. The decisionwas madeto removethe kits larertbr hand- 48 576.5 54:1.5 479.O rerrurg rn order ro sociatjzelhcm ro humans,with lhe hope thar 49 588.0 555.5 486.0 hrnd rearcd fishe. may be calmer in captivjry. ihe.erbre breed 50 5ri.l.5 559.0 496.5 successlullyrhere. The fbltowing notessummarize rhegrowth and 5l 602.5 564.5 515.0 Jf\elotmenri,ithe,c hrnd.rcared,ndivrdurt\ 55 680.0 635.0 '730.0 570.0 51 679.0 605.0 '716.O (;rowthand development 815.0 61't.0 6l 903.0 u41.O '732.t) Coulter ( t966) detaitedlhe growih and dcvetopment ofhis 65 919.O 897.0 776.O threemother raisedfisher, born in clprivity March jrd. Newbom 6lt 1087.0 l{)17.0 u'74.O lr\her are allricial. sparsely-hajredand weigh tess rhan40 grams. 10 ||75.0 t089.0 9l t.0 I hf nrotherreared young grnr abour 5- 10 g p€r day, so rhaaby4t) 72 r240.0 | 116.0 dr\\ ol ige they.houldweighabout 980.0 220g icf. ouranjmals,which 16 1338.0 1349.{) scNhed 16(1,+10g jd, t076.0 on day Tabte l). The young srarred 78 t443.0 .tu$lmg t37 7.0 n42.O rr rhe eight weeki thcir eyes openedar 53 days. They 82 qere qalkjng 1590.0 1530.0 1220.0 at 63 dnys,and climbing al age70days. The dam djd nor gNe lhe youngmenr un1il62 days. al which time rhedecjduous c.n'ne teeth had erupled. Nursing conlinued unril day 1l4i rhe gain/day x=24.68 x=2:.99 x = l'7.9 C \oung wcr€ 124dnys otd beforc they coutd eftecrivetyki prey. L'r.mares were lery aggressivewhen competingfor foort (ioul r.r. 1966).Coulter was as careful about handljng his lifter as we q.re. At 3.1days. thc dam was separaredfrom the kirs. which due to the gred probabterisk that an adult mustetidwjltkitl werc pulled litr hand-rearing.During hand_rearjng.ihe kits were o. xhrndonher lirter it ir is handted:his kits were not handledunlil $eighcd dJ'l) ar 8ur n ujng a rripte_belnrmer,,c brt!nce. rlr(,rrlTth dny,rnd his early wcighl dar! comcstion ocaoneonares werfnr gdrn rtonc I, n.,l |l(ci,\rrjt) rn rcr,rrre Indi{dtn,nol sh.lp.d 1ncaplivily. However,Coutteis and ournesr boxes wcre developmenr(thnr is, body weight may increase,but tess.apidty lrr.lreed such thnr we could monilor or obsclve neonaEswflh rhanrelarive b(xly length increase:rhe resutl is a rcat loss in bo

On April l8,the llsherkhswcrcremovedforhand rcaring. Esbilac,acommoDly usedbirch s mill rcphcenrcnt.wnschosen as thc iornrula. In our ljtcraturc searchwe haven'tconre acrossany publishedmilk composnionanalysis lbr llsher,bul Esbilacclo!ely resemtte! rhe conrposirbn in protein/ca.bohydrnte/lalcorlent titr Ihc lc(cl (Musttlu putt\rrs i(mra /n,?), a well krrown mustelid species(Border, Inc. rcchnjcalstaff, pers.connn.). Table I gives a summaryol lhe feedingrecord lb. one of lhe han(l rcarcdlisher kns (malc#Mlt90l6).

Rubbmg rhemalregion with a paperrovr'el soaked in warm war€rproved$rllicicntto slimularedelccrtionand urinalion in lhe kils. This procedurewns peribnned alrer ench feeding unril the animals were .rhlc to defecateon their own.

InLroductionof the animds to lhe lnilk replacer fonnula Fig. I ThreeFisher {Ma r'l?r p?r/rdrrl) kils agedca. :15 dlys. Thc was with a 6cc syringeil rhekits refuled ap€t nurscrbolrle. Soon, eyesa,estill closed. PhotoB mer ParkZoo. Syrrcuse. NY. however.we were usine a Four l'aws lret Nurserbotrle and Dipl,le lo suckle rhc kits. Boxles we'e cleaned.washed aDd sleriliz€d atterd{y 6ll his weighlneasuremenls were disruptcd dnd finally belweenteedings. Milk was madcfrcshdrily r(' prcventfcedins of diiconlinueddue ro the exciremenland slrcssthlt acconrp,rniednlilk contaminared\r'ilh bactcria. aoytonn ol physical or mcchrnic,rl reslrainl ofyoumS fishers). We did lakeheart girlh measuremenh on our kits lbra while(Table 2). The tlrsl solid lbod givcn was a $upy mixturc ol Esbilac .,nJ,r'rin,drhr,kenhJhylood \ efedrhi\rnr\rurernin.rea\rng Wc felt t{nth eruptionin lhekils at day 40. when premolrrs lmounls unlil. nearwearing date.we mixed in a snull amountol b.ganro show.I hedeciduous canines stnrted lo eruplal lhc samc NcbmskaBrandCannrcDiet(acoarsely ground,wholehorsemear rime,bul wcrenol iully eruptednnrilday 50 or so. mix) ro rhc solid food mix. All solid food given wls pre heated10 human slin lemperalureuntil the kits were weaned. Dateof eye openirgwas very variableir our kits. M.rlc "post-weaoed #M89017had openedcycs al 4lt daysol a8e(Fig.2). Male F.om the age of 3,1-82days (12 days ), our #MU9016,largesl of thelitter. opened both eyes nt day5.1. Fenrale hand rclred kiLs giined an averageof 17.9 g (ltmrlc) t{) 24.6 g #M890lUopened hef eyesor day 55. This is closeto rhedrr:r (male) pcr day (Table l). Coullers recordedgains ior days 40 presenledby Coullef( 1966)and Powell( 1982). who indic(ed cyc rhrough 6tl were 8.4 and 10.5g/day tor nrother-rearedkits (both openingar ,1853 drys. lenlales).()uf kits conlinucde{ling r brby tbod/caninediel mixru.c for rhree t{'eeksxtier weaning. Then. thcy w.rc given Mostolourrcsulls lrc consistcnlwith Coulter's. Hou,ever. carin€ diet wirh !nltn)in supplemenl.The dier wrs rlso occasion- he indicatedthat sexualdnnorphism in body sirc may not bc ally supplenented wilh sm.rll an unts of hard-boiledegg and app rent until atlef the fourth month. We noriceda nurked chopped he|rrDg. relalivesize ditterence belween our nrales and lemrle al agethrec monrhstwe leel lhis mry be whengrowth .ale chrnges dramali cradually the dict was changed ro iDclude incrensing cally( Tablel). At age6 nronlhs.lhenrales weighed 4.:l and.1.5 a'nountofl:ishc.Chow mixed into the honemeat.FisherChow is lg eachithe ttm.rle weighed 2.5 kg. wikl caughtaduhs weigh 3.5 a 50:50 nrixrureof Big Red Crr Chow and Ris€ floating Fish Diel 5.5kg (lnales)and 2.(l2.5 (L,nales): lheif body length is 90-120 madc to simula(econnnerciai mirk chow. and groundlo r co{rse cm (malct and75 95cm (lcmalcs)(Stricklrnd 1r.r/., l98l). wc try rokeep our cxprjve mdividuals within lhese wild animalweighr Table2. Herrt ginh measurcmcnrs(cm) of 2.1 F-isherkirs at the BurnetParl Zoo, Syrucuse.N. Y. 1989

Hand-rearingtechniques ACE Male Male Fcmale Hand-rearinswas bxsedon rhe advice of Frank Webb of (drysl #M89016 #Mll90l7 #M89018 New York and Tom lkrDig ol Massachusens.who had lhe 43 15.5 14.5 12.5 oppoflunity ro hand-renr lisher rhemselves.Webb and Hoenig 5l t5.5 15.0 1,1.0 were in ag.ccmcnllhal ifpossiblc thc kils shouldbe removedtrom 58 16.0 15.0 15.0 thc m)rher somelimcbctwecn rhe 4lh a 5lh week ofage priorlo 66 16.0 16.0 15.5 lhe openingof rheireyes. This srategy givesthe kirs mothers nnlk 71 17.5 17.5 17.0 lbr !s lonSaspossiblcr milk.eplaceris rhen usedonly lbradequate Fccdingrecord ol ncon e ndtc Fisher #M89016liom dry .14ro day70, Bun'erPrrk Zoo,SI.cu\c, N. Y. 1989

.1085 t dr)' 60.c /45 cc b) \l.insc .10iJ.l 66 cc / 6.1c. ,1:(1.0 70.c / 68cc syringe& bollte 80 cc / 78 cc b) bonlc Reduccdd.ily int.ke lo 75 cc. .ll 5 \ 'h) ?5 !r / 75 c( b) h'rtLtc .15 5399 .19 5880 50 FiKt vrccimrnrnsgiven. Bc8anSiving a snnll amountoiccfter sfrincd chicken2cc wnh h,lk rethcemcnr.Used a 50:50Mitk/Baby iood mix. 52 602.5 Esbihc+ il x dly 85ccmilk+Ioc. mix Bonte & dish 680.0 9lcc h,lt+l6ccnix 815.0 l(x)ccnilk+l5cc mix Fig. 2. Youngnrlle l,-isher(Mdtk s pennanti)ca. S0 daysotd. j\tsl 65 Bollleremolcd Dierchanged r() ! 3:l mixrurcof babynrxl rlier his eyesopcned. Pholo Burnet park Zoo. Syracuse, andmilk rcplacehcDt.Smrtl amounkof Ncbr.skaBrund NY. Caniredicl addedlo mixture.Di\continued hcarinS dier. 68 1087 Mixrurc -l x dry I l0 cc nrix Disl' R€ferences 70 Il75 Berg.W. Ii. I 98L Rejnrroducrion Vaccination boosle^ given. of I isher.pine manen. and flver c'tter.Pp 159173 in G. C. pro(.4]kr Animrls con\idered weancd.arbunr of mitk rephccmenl Sanderson,ed. Fish unn WtLllilt'Cotif | ,li.r rcdu.r,l\h,ul' r. m,{c c.trrin.Jrt r. iJJcJ . Wichila,KS. USA. Couher.M. W. 1966.t.o/og]' an.t m(lnagenet al Fisttu in lvlai'rc. Ph. D. thesis.NYS Co cge of Environmental I'owder- Ir was addcd in increasingamounrs over a rwo wcck Scienccand Forcstry, Syrncuse. N. y. pe xl until the dier mixrure was 2il Cmjne Diet ro FisherChow. I{odgson.R. C. 1925.Iut lunfiry th? b,tasetfanit.t. FtrtTt. L Canada.Oshawa, Ontario, t38 pp. By lhe age of $ree monlhs the kjls were rest.ictedto 2Xl Powell,R. A. l9a2.TheFisht: life hitr,\,. etutusyana day leedings-The die{ was gradurtty increasedto accomnrodare hehdtiot. Un;let\ity of Minnesorap.ess, Minneapolis, growth. By lhe ageof six monrhseach !nimat wrs receivjng t42 MN, 217pp. g pcr ofdiel day. The nvcrageadult fisherar our zoo reccives 142 Slrickland.M. A., Douglas,C. W.. Novak.M. & Hunzinger,N. p. kr 227 ol diet I daily depcndingon body weighr .rnd condition. 1981.Fishcr. Pp 586598 in J. A. Chapman& c. A. Fefdhamer.eds. 'Vrld run nats ol No hAn?ti..d: hiology, Summary nanasencnt,e(ononi(.s. John Hopkins Universiry press. Bahimo.e.MD, | 147pp. Our hand-rerrcd fisher kils are wett acclimarcd to rhc l'.esenccofhumans, and toourcaptive condirionsand thus should Produ.h n€nrionedin thet€rt be less stressedduring the breeding season.Because they lvere Nchrxsratsrand clnine Dicr.tr'\rribtrrcd by Anim.t Spccrum.lnc p()Bdr 6107. l-nicoln.Nti 685060:10?, (JSA. .earedtogcther and arenow wirhin sight otoihers oflheirspecies, Ble RcdCrt Chow& RAcflo.rin! FishDicr. pmtuct\ hand rearirg oi Aewry. Inc . Buncnrur shouldhave caused few behavioralchamgesin rhcm. Drivc,D.Witt. NY 1121,1.LrS The femalc should be easily hrndl€d tbr lhe deterrnjnalior of Esbil.. MilI Rcplarer.produ.r {t Boftten.tn., perrycrprodo.r\. Rr. ] Bor t27. prccise e(mus cycling, anLI !il anirrals will be mo.e easily FourPaws Pcr Nu^cr handledfor hclhh examsand mcdical procedures b.rle Jn(inippte. Four Prwr.lnc.. cenral ktip, Ny 12788.

Successlulcaplive propagationof fisher, atthough dcsjr able.is nor the finalgoalol our work. Ourgoal is lo undcrstandthe Burnet Park Zoo,Syracuse, NY 13204,USA. captive managcmenrneeds and rcproductivebiok)gy ofthjs .ela t'velycommon speciesas a rnodeI for other.endangered. mustetid species.panicularly those in rhe genusMd,r?s. fvtoregenera y. lhe above poslpaium monilo.ing. infrnr handling and hrnd .eanng techniqueswere successful,and shoutdbe applicablero a variety of mustelidsl]nd vivenids in rhe witd and in c,ptjvity. The Gola Projectin SierraLeone: Report on the viverrids

GlynDAVIES

Survcysucre conductedin the Gola Fo.estReservcs, walchcdanimals lcNp up on the sidesof treetrunks to get a cl€arer casremSiena l-eone. by Glyn Daviesin I984-85(Da!ies. 1987). kr)k {t uhalever dangerthreatens. and lhereis currentlya moredetailed ecological research pro- gramnegoingoninthe rcserves. focussing onCola Nonh(Fig. l). They occur in prinary lbrcsr.loggcd li'.est. farmbushand Themain emphasis ofthe investigationhas hccn on pdmatesand plantatjons,indced anywherewhere rhere i! leaf'lirter 1()lirrage duikers.whi€h accounl tor rhebulk ofthc mammalianbiomass in through. Al1 records collected duriog lhis project are from the the fbrests.and are commonly hunted. Howevc. there have also welrerzone ol Lhccountry, bul how they fare in guineansavanDah beendelailed surv€ys on lhe avifbuna,and sighrings of all |nam, malshave b€en accumu latcd by projcctmcmbers. lhe distribution of viverridsis shownon Fig. 2. Slendermongoose (Herpestes sanguineus) Owinglo theirslealthy lbraging strategies and olten noc- Anorhercomrnonand widely disiributedmongoose, which turnal habits,there arc rclativelyfew sightin$ of any small specinlizesin stcaling chickens tiom villages al night. It is a camivores.Thcrefde only simplestatemenis can be madeaboul tennctuushunrcr which has b€en recordedjn all habirars:cocoa/ lheir ecology,bascd on lhe habitlts in which they havebeen collee pllnrarbns, iambush. loggedtbrest. closed'canopy secon- recordedlthere are no feedingrecords nor can the population dary li'rcst, bul no1closed-canopy lbrest ir the centre of Gola densitiesb€ calculatedfrom availabledara (Fig. 2). Nonh. Solirary animals and pairs have bcen scen,but no larger prftie!. Forestgenet (Gen etta pardina) (Herpestes Seenrhrice in the daytine,once in younglarmbush {two Marsh mongoose paludinosus) yearsalier fanning), oncc on a bgging roadin tbrestfionr which Solitary individuals of this mong(Dschavc bccDrccordcd connnerciallimb.r wls cxtraclcdthree years earlier. and once in fbraging on the lbrcsLfloor on Tiwai nnd in lhc cbsed canopy theclosed'canopy forest on Tiwai.They are expected 1o (iccur rn lircsts in lhe cenlral pall ofCola Nonh. One individual was also primarylbrcat as wellas in thesedislu$ed habirars. but generally watchedin loggcd lbrcst, walking along a slreambed and feeling lhey{pp€ar sparsely disiribured in the lbrcn zonc. beneath submergedrocks and logs for cruslaceans.There are recordsof the speciesin young lannbush.and two adults with a juvenile African linsang(Poiana ric hardsoni) crosseda road in an intensiveianned area. Not recordedjn recenttimes in the Gola tbresrs,although Ichneumon(flerpe ste s ichneumon) & it occursir similarhnbiralsin Liberin andmay wcllolcur ir Sicrd White-taif€d mongoose (I chne umia albic auda) Thcy Nrcbolh cxpcctcdin thedrier savltnn.rhNrcas ofSierra African civet (Cirettictis cfuetta) Lconc. bur hrle xl$ blcn rccordedin nonlbresl habiralswell into This is theconmonest of th€vivenids. lt hasbeen recorded in !lltarls ol Sicm Lconc, liom the guincasavrnDrh oflhc nonh to the ruin iirests of lhe Golas.l hey arc ibund in farms, cotfee/ 0ultl cocoaplanlali is l]nd town gardcns.ADini,rlsarc oli lY,'l'--'''"'.. .u,,,0 ing or rravellingaloog roads. a d lhere.rrcsullicicnr records ro "' mdp lhe flltion widc distribulion, as lhcir (rcurcncc in thc Coln oO r^F o'i^l Two-spottedpafm cfiet (Nandiniabinotata) ^ 'Vl,L C, fl t' ,.r ^. Reponedf|oln the c losed canopyseconda ry forcstoD Tiw|i 3' Vt' l Isl{nd. andsccn in rhcprimart fbrestinlhccenrrcol Mogbai.ll hxs a distincrivebooming hoo. hoo, hoo" crll which has bcen hedd planhlidrs {r)und .,'rl i ar night in coftee/cocoa Gnr. u |3r ^ lrt (i(l/42,- Cusimanse(Crass archus ob sc urus) -^- This cn-gagingnnnrgoosc is comnronly dctccled by the YLt**-*' piping conhctc.rlls rdc berweeonrembersol lbriging panies(4- l2 mdiv.) as they runnnrgc rhrough lcrf litLcr. prcsumrbly in searchof insecrsand lrllcn liuirs. When rlrrmcd. ! snrglc high- Fig. Lsierra Leoneshowing rhe ForcstReseNes (doned), rhe pirchcd pccp is given.ind nll lhe ruslling sou ds sropas aoinals proposedNalional Park (black), lDd the Gola ForestRe pulltheir nosesoul oflhc lc{ves lnd look rbour fordaDgcr.I havc seNeswirh adjacentl iwNiIsland. a a

o ",u..,,", " ",u.rro G0tt t0SEsTs'--- o o.,,.,ro oo"o'"o

* ot,.o, ooruo,"osu. t xrnpesrrs rcrneuxor o

Fig. 2. Viverids of rhe Gola Foresrs:spccics rnd/or si8ns reco.ded. rhelbresr zone. This exemplilies how savannah preferring spccier exrendinto the tbrcstzone along coridors of farmbushscrub. Acknowledgements The cunentresearch is fundedby rheOverseas Develop- ConseRationofthese viver.idsdo€s not seem to dependon mentAulhorithy-UK (ESCOR), and data have been conlribured preservationof primarylbrest since,with the possible exceprion of by Minislry of AgricullureNarural Resources & Foresiryslaff, rhc African linsang. all adapr ro exploit non foresrhabirals. I lowever. Universityof Siena Leonestudenrs. and the UEA/ICBP Bird rnuchmore informationis neededon populariondensilics and ecohgyb€fore conclusive srarements can be made abour sp€cies' conservation,especially since these manrmals,like mosr others in Reference Sierrahonc, areeaten. Davies,A. C. 198'7.The Gola Forest Reservs.Sierru taone. IUCN,Gland.Switserland and Cambndge, UK. Duringa one,yearsuwcy of Kenema(pop. l5 20.ULl0).the ncarestlown 1oCola, civeB werc $ld for mealin rhemarker on nrostdays (2-8 carcasses/morning) and gcners were also sotd. tr Gola Project,Conservation Society, may.therelbre, hc necessarytomonitor theeffect ot hunringon lhe P, O. Box 1292,Freetown, Sierra Leone. rarersp€cies belbre wc canfeel comfonableabout their iurure. The African weasel:A Red Data Book speciesin South Africa. David T. ROWE-ROWE

With a mlss of 3:10g for adulr males and 250 8 for ldull its own size.Th€ predarorcmploy,i a well-directedbite al the back fenules (Rowc Row€, I978a). the Airican weascl (Po?ilotak of the neck. usually acconrpaniedby laieral rolling (lo knock the d//tin!( d,lrl)i!, rogetherwiih thedwarl mongoos!/f/r/.) gal?pa^t a). prey o ns fcct). curhrg aound lhc prcy,claspingit wirh the fore' Atiicas smalleslcamivofe. This smallnrustelidoccu$ in suirable tee1,and treadingvigorously againsiil with rhehind'feet (to break habilal in sub-SaharanAlrica from South Af.ica, nonhwards to Mozambique,nonh-casrcm Zimbabwe. Malawi. Zambia, Ango- 'lhi\ la. Zaire. Rwanda, B urundi, l anzania.and K€nya. weaseldoes not eat snakes.eg8s, or iDsccts.as has been stalcd ir somc of the generalnram,nll hrndbooks. Habits Thc Aliican weasel (Fig. l.), also known as thc Aliilan Reproduction slriped weasel and thc white-naped weasel. is tenesrrial and In South Afiic! the br€eding seasonexrends over spring predoninanrlynoclumal. occasionally seen during daylight.These and lummef (Rowc Rowe, 1978c). Copulations are exrended, wcaselsa.e usually solilary, but may occur in g.oups of two to lasting60 to 80 minutes Thc gcskrnrn p€riod of32 days rppears four: gcncrally an adult famaie and her young. Thc weaselis a to b€ the shonest recorded in any camivore wilhout delayed g(xd burrower, otlen excavating its own holes. Olhcr shelte.s, inrplantalion.Lillers consisr of berweenone and thrce altrici . such as hollow logs and rock crcvices.are also used.In defence, hairlessyoung. The caninc te{rtherupt al ca. 35 days. when the like lhe zorilla f/.tux)i slridlrl), the weasclcjects a foul-smelling young begin to cat solid food, and rhe eyes op€n a1ca. 52 days. tluid fiom ils analglands.Six differentvocalizations by adultsand When about 13 weeks old the young rre able lo kill small three by blind young have been recognized(Channing & Rowe mammals.and arc fu 11g.own at 20 weeks. Onc lincr per seasonis Rowe, 1977),and caiegorisedaccording 10 functtun. Sonag.aphic normal,but ifallofthe youngdie al an early stagc,thc fenale mry analysisindicated that the languageis similar to rhalof thc zorilla. mate again and have ! sccondli cr.

Food Conservation The diel consistsalmost exclusively ofsmall rodents,with Poe(ilogulealbinu(ha is lisl€din the SouthAfrican Red small insectivoresand young birdr on the ground occasionally DataBook as'ra.e (Smithers,1966). The cal€goriesused in the laken (Rowe Rowe, 1978b).The weaselhas evolved as a special SouthAfrican Red Data Booksffethe same asthose used in IUCN isl killerofsmnllmanmals. being.!p!ble ofkilling rodentsup lo RedDala Books. 'Rare lhus refers ro Trxa witbsmall populalioni

Fig. L Adult nule A iracallweatel (P o?t ibr.1l. .llbir4.ra r. Pholo D. T. Rowe Rowc- 6 whrch are nol al prcscntendaDge.ed or !ulne.able, bul which are In rhepr)vince of Nalrl rheAliican weaselis usedhy rhe ar risk. As a specialislfeedcr on sm{lt mammals.and becauseol Zulu peoplcin lribal mrdicine.WeariDg lhe skin, or a pieceof its low J'opulationdensiry. and rppar€ntassftiarion wilh ta.ticu- skin,brinSs good luck. Sometimesthe skin or orherparls of rh€ lafhabilati which arc heingallcredof lost.thcAfrican weasetdoes wcaselsbody arc burnt:inhlling rhesmokc o. lakingrhe ash as appearlo be ar risk. snutf Sivespdeclion againsrphysicat h,rrm and brings tuck. Secinsr live wcrselalso brings luck. In cerlrjnireas paa of $e Dist.iburion ol the Africln weaset in Sourh Atricr is weaselrs used in a lovcchann (whc.c p€ople have knowtedge of limited nrainly to the moist grasslandrrcNs which hrvc an annual thc weasels cotrrtirgand maringbeha\jour), while somcruml mnrfall in erccss of 6(n mm. inhabitanlsplrce the stin obovethc door ro keeprodcnl pesrs out.

SourhAfrica s humanpoputation ot almost 32 million (27l Dealersin tribxlmedicinesnrc generaUy oflhc opinionthar k'n2) is increasingat rhe rapid rate 012.it% per annum. Therc js lhe werselis becominescarcer: possjbly as a resuhof continued lhercfore an incrcrsing necd to producc more tbod, and the high dcmandand fewer annnalsin lhe wild {A. Cunningham, counlry s mojst grassllndareas hlve sufferedunder thir pressure. Univ.of Natal.p€rs. comm.). Large rftcrs ofgrasslandha,re come underthepbugh lo grow lbod ("'p' rnrrillv n),,i/e,.or cJ,h crof, \uih r\ suprrcrnc ur prne- References apples, while each yeaf nrore moisr grasslandis planied with Channing.A. & Rowe,Rowe,D. T. 1977.Vocalizarions ofsouth introducedsoliwood (Piu,rrspp.)and ha.dwood(ErrruUFus spp.) At.ic.rnnusrelines. Z. I i?4rsr(hol. 4412A3-293. trees ior pnpcr pulp and li'nber. Overgrazing. prrricularly in Rowe-Rowe.D.'l . I97tln.The smallcrmivores of N^r^1. bnn?r subsistencel!.ming arers is rlson scrtuusprobtem, as numhersot &.rsr 25:l'48. g.asslandsmall mamnral prcy sFcies dcctnre in lhe abscncelr1 RoweRowe, D. T. 1978b.Conparalive prey caplureaDd food sufficienl cover. Arother lhreat emanalcs f.om rhe increasing studiesof SoudrAlrican mustelines.Mannatia 42:ti5- numberofdogs in ruralarea!.The dogs comperewirh rhe weasels t96. lor lbod. and olien kill them. Rowe-Rowe.D. T. 1978c.Reproducrion and port naraldevelop- mentofSourh African musrelines (Camivora: Musrctidae). Each of the lbu. provioces in South Afrjc.r has jts own Zoobgitu AJiktl d |3:101-||4. natureconseaation ordinlnce. ln the Cipe provjncc poedk,sat. Smilhcrs.R. H. N. SouthAJiitun R?tjDatu Book - Torcstrial dlrn?r.r.r is listed as a prorccredannnnt: i_c. ii is protectedin ntunndls.S. ^f.. NationalScientific programmes Repon nalurereserves in whi€h il occunand it nuy nor h€ huntedwithout 125.214pp. ! permil oulside of reserves.In rhe other rhree provinces(Natat, Transvaal.Orange F.ee Stare)thc weasel is protecredjn nature rcserves.bul unp.otectedourside ofthem. Trrde in tile animalsis Natal Parks Board,PO Box 662, not allowed. however.The numb€n ol protected arcas in which Pietermaritzburg,J200 South Africa Aliican weaselshave been recordedare l0 in Narat, possibly occurjng in anolhcr 12 reserves.nr lcasl four in C.pe province, rnd one in TraDsvanl.So far, it has not beenrecorded in reservcs in lhe O.ange Free Slate.

Fifth International Theriological Congress,Rome 22129aug. 19g9.

Wasc.. P. M. & Rood,J. P. Dwarf mongooscd isFrsar: asc anosex Alkhalili, A.D. Post-enb.yonicdeveloprrent of the lndian grcy specilc bencfils and risks. mongoose.H?.rresrdBd/dslli,/r1rfir"b (Geoltioy. I8 | 8) on Bahrain Islands. Baker. C. The useof behrviouralcharactcrs in rhe syslcrnaticsof Crvallini, F. & Nel, J. A. J. Honre rangeand activity of the cape sornc southernAfricin Hcrpesrinae. grry mongoosec.I/.r"r/ ttth(rul? td. Creel. S. Evolulionary and nechanisti. asp€ctsot retroductivc Colyn, M. & Van Romtaey, H. Populationstrrcrure anatysisof jn s'rppressron rhe dwart mongonse.Heto|ute Nrruld. lhe gcnus{lorrdr,tx?r F. Cuvicr 1825i. cenlral Afiica: A Maddock,A.H. Resourcepanitioning in an assemblageoi viveF cranromcrncsludy. Frller. T. K., Biknevicrus.A. R. & Kat. P. W. Motemenrsand Ma\i,8.. p. Dessi-Fulgheri,F., Piazza.R. & Messeri. Soci.rl behaviourof large spottc(lgeneh ncar Elnrenteita,Kenya. vocalizationsol the bandcdmongoosc. Palonrarcs,F.& Delibcs,f, . ConrprrativeecotogyofthecoDnon Ta)lor.\4.E aranromerricanzlysi\ ot thc AtflcJnmongoo\e: in gcnet and lhc ichneumonin southwesrernSpNin. lhe subgenusCdl?/r//d. IJ)lor. M. F Lcol,'t] r'hl con\'^r n|| ^r Lircrrr r,\ Taylor. P. J. & Meestcr.J.Cran iomerric e! idcnceror rheexiitence Van Hensbergen,H J. & L|asmus,D. L. Hom€ rllnge lnd beh! of two speciesof yellow mongoose/C_r,ni,rl. viour of scnets in rhc SouthemCnpc iynbos (m cchiN). Winh. R. Conscrvatr1)Ilin !iverrids. The distribution and statusof the badgerln Glamorgan, Wales.

H.l. CRIFFITHSTj,D. C. HICKSIa,and V A. MORRIS3,l I

Introduction l'he Eurasi,rDbad-qer lMsi"r M?/erL.) h,rsa longhistory nr thcB.nish Isles and is knownfrom folsil asserrbhgcsdating fronr rround 120.0(X)ycars ago (Sutcl'ffe,1985). Ik]wever. modem WEST rpopulationsarc thoughtto derivefrom Lhcreinvasion of Brnain 14{18 thallbllowcd theend oflhe lrst (Devensian)glaciarion at approxi malely10,000 B. P.(Yalden, t982).

The badgeris Britain'slargest rerrestrial carnivore, and. althoughlraditionally regarded ar a benevolentanirnul. it has Fig. L Thc distribulion of.rctive badgcrsctts in lhe lhree counlrcs periodicallybecn lhe subje€tof persccurionby gamekeepers, ol Glrmorgan- Iarmers,and sponsmen. With thedcclinein thenumbers ofgamc (Chec\emanf/ dl.. 19139).M. A. F. F. may also occasionallygrant k€eper!sjnce the l9l4 l9'8 war,badger populations have risen licenceslbr the culUngofpest badgerslhat desrroycrops. poultry, markedly(Cresswell zr al.. 1989).However in many prns of or prol'eny. In Glamorgan,bovine T. B. is $sent (Anor.. 1r)88) Brilain and in Glamorgnnin panicul.r.the badgerstill suifcN xnd no licenceshnve becn issued forbadgerculling, alihoughihere exlensivepersccutiolr primarily through ils pursuitin illegalti€ld was a single unsuccessfuI application in l9li3 (WelshOllice Agri culture Depanmenl, Pers. comm.). lt would seemtherefor€ thal badgcrsports ar€ the soleremaining thrc,rt t{)populations in South Distributionand status There have beena numb.r otatlcnrpts to producedistribu Badger rclaredspons include hidser dissing (hc disinter- rion mal's orthe rangeol rhe badgcrin crcar Britarn (Neal. 1972i ring ol b,rdgerswith rhe aid of dogs) ltnd hrdgcr bairing (lhe 'spofs" Clements !r d1., 1988). Only in lhe lntter of rhesc rwo rcpons lighting ofcaprive badgersag.insr dogs).Thele charac- "working delailed data werc p.esenredlbr uch of Wales. although the terislically iDvolve the use of rhe larger breeds of aurhorsfreely adDil thal distributionslbr SouLhWales are based terier. such as lhe Paucrdxlcrnd Fell terrier, both t.adirionally largely on inrdcquale data or guesswork. uled lbr lhe digging ol foxcs. tsadger'spons' are sadly srill widespreadin Britnin. Rcccntly,Cresswell ?i d/. (1989) reponcd Since irs inccprirrr in I 983, The clamorsan BadgcrCroup thrt natronllly l{).57. of aclive main sc(s hrd been dug and has beencollecthg i lbrmation on the statusoi lhe badgcrin Lhc considcrcd thrl rhis could accounl lbr the loss ol sonre 9.000 'lhe lhreecounliesof Mid, South.and W€stGlrrnorgrn (Fig. l). At the badgersper anrum. eftacls ol badgcrdiggnrg in Glamorgan time of collation tor rhis .cpo( (January, 1990). rhere wcrc areshown in Fig.2. At 5,lol.and 387. rcspectively.rhe percent,tges approximarcly 185 active badgerse s known ro cri!t wilhir the ol settsaxacked nr both Mid and SourhGlarnorgan farexceed the arca. Thc major concentralior ol animals is in the sparsely narionalaverage. lhe high'densityarea of Wcsr Glanrofgan popuhlcd rublc.egion ofthe cower Peninsula,Wcst cl,rmorgan. Nppcarstr) bc lcss markcdly rtfected. wilh approximately l0% of In nrosrorher paas ofGlamorgan. badgersarc largely confincd to selrs k own lo have been dug, Lilthotrghthis nray well reflcct stretchesof tbrestryrdminislered by lhc ForestryComnrission or inadequnciesin rcponlgc .tther lhan any lrue inprcvcmcnl over lo isolated pockers ol woodhDd rmongrt arable larnrland and the situarion in the rcst of the thrce counlies.Sourh Wale! has a p slurc. The badgeris scarceio the lcrlilc coaslal bek of South sttung tradition oi lerrier sports (H rconrbe. I9tl9) llnd thii is Gl,rnn)rganaDd lafgely absent ffon the old indnstrill nrinirg reilected h lhe high ratesof att,rckupoD badger sells repofledin valleysof lhe Rhymney,Rhonddn, a d Cynon. md tion the arers surroundingnrajorlor,,ns. The lbnner disrributionofrhe badgerin thc thrce count,esis larSelyunknown and seucensLrsing is rn oD going concem,paflicu lrrly in Wcst Chnmrgan and inthe nonhenr Badgersand the law forcstry of Mid Glamorgan. Britishannnal legislalion is complcxbut starulesofdirecr relevanceto the badgcrrr€ usclullyrcviewed by Skinner{,r // Naliomlly. tbe najor anthropogenic threrts to badgcr (1989).In pricricebadgers are prolected ln)m diggingand olher populalionsare habitntdcslnrction. culling.ud illegal sporls. acts of cruelty and exploilationby the BadgersAcr 1973as ahhough in sone areasbldgcrs may llso snffer heavy motality amendedby the Wildlite and CounrrysideAct l98l and the tiom road lraflacaccidcnts (Checsem.in "r d/.. 1989i Ncrl, 1986). Wildlife and Counrryside(Amendnr.ts) Act 1985.Thc Protec- Habitatdcsrruction usually trke! fte fb.m ofchanges in land use. ttunol AnimalsAcl l9l I alsoprolcctsf()mabuse badgers rharare u|ban eDcroa.hmcDtor the expeditiolrof large civil engineering dccmedcaplive under lhe lermsof the law. Animalsinhabiring projects. Although badger populalions have b€en lost tr) ull of lbreslry havc lirthc. protectionunder the lerms oi Forestry theseagencies in thc p,rst.none curcntly posea sigrillcant threal Comnrissionbyelaws that ourlaw any foml ofpursuiror harass- 1() badgers in Glamorgan. ln Brilain the culling of blldgers is 'nenlof wild animalsin landsunder their jurisdicln)n. strictly controlledallhough the Minislry ofAgriculture. Fisherics and lrood (M. A. F. F.) are aulhorisedio exterminrtc badgers tjntbnunately,mu€h of this legislalionis poorly con, infectedwilh Mr ( ord.k,, irrr ,orir lo control bovinetuberculosis slructedand dilficult to entorcc,with the resultrhat nrany of lhe

''---i -,,':',," prosecuIions :S: broughrby thc poticc evenrua y fait in rhecouns ( fttr I anerample seeCoot. t989). Furrhennorc..$awarenessot Badger legrslalionincreases. badgcr offenccs becornc nrore difticutl ro delectaDd to prosccure_B.rdSer diggers hnvc beenknou.n to rake ,I .r derd n)x to a dig to facilitate rhe tegal dcfencelhrt they were dlggins ior loxcs. not badSen(rhc for hasno firleclion under U. K. law).In rheevcnt ot a prosecurn'n.tawyers who spcci tisein :j I rhe deltnce of lhcse cas$ are now availrblc to rne tucused. WEST

Although lfie BNdgersAd altows maginraresto impose Fig. 2. PerccDt.gesol hudgerselrs alackcd in each of thc lhree 'hon prison scntenccsanci lines oj ut ro t2,000 per ol.cn!e. in counliesol Glanorgnn. t,'rcrrce tlrc courtsare reluclnntb inltict nringert penrllies. and rrncsin excessol !5(I) per ottencc rre unusurl. When compared \rrh the rcporrs oi lhc largc wagers rhnt iccomp n) brdger Anon. l9ll8. Bovire rub.rculosisin badgcrs.Twettrh Annual (ontcsts nd ol prices in erccss off50O comnrrDdedby c.rptive Reponby lhe MinisiryofAgricutlurc. Fisherjes and Fo(xl. animatson rhe black marker.such finesarc hardty punirive. tJntjl H. M. S.O..I-ondon. .urh rirne.r, hrdger l.ri.ti,tr^qr. re\i\edor ,.,!i\lri,t(\J\\unre Chceseman.C. L. Witcsmith,J.W. & Sruan,F. A. 1989.Tub€r_ a ltronger stanceon penallies. ftc only way lo prevcnl badgcr culosi!:the diseaseand its epjdenjologlin rhebadger. a digging is to monilu corlinuously lhosesetrs rcgardcd as being.tl ttvie\| Epitl.niotox)-& In|edion t13:t t3-125. high risk.lhis is cenaintyheyond rhe remjr ofoiticirt agencics Clements.E. D.,Ncal. E. C. & yatdcn,D. w 1988.The National rnd h€yond lhe meansof tocal conscwarionor rniml|t welare BiJ,,clSur\(). Uraadl R.|r A tx-t-l groups. Cook.P. J- 1989.Badger prorection and the Aninuls Act l9l t. .htstit?of th? Pear( t5l:828-830. Conclusions Cresswell.W. J., Harris.S.. Bunce. R G. I{. & Jetferies.D. J. lq8o.The hddpc',U(h\ n.l^tn Britarn. The ellecrs jnrensi,re tresent,tJrus of locatised, digging upon badger lnd futurepopuldion changes. Ai.t. J. LDr. ,t .., 38:9t_ populalrcns are !s yel unclear. However, badgers have b.cn IOl. eradicatediron a numhe.ofsncs in Sourhand Mid clamorSan ns Hrr.orrb€, D. 19a5.Btl€er di€Bis n,ith r./ri(rr. Ficldfare, a direct .esuh of badgcrdigging_ There is no &,ubt rh South Llnndeilo. Wales is I najor fo(us ofbadger spodsand this is funher shown Ilarcombe.D. 1989.Th( ro tt4th( ^r/iirs /?/rrer.Fietdfare, by thlr recentconvictions of South Watesnen for hadgerrctated Llandeilo. oliences in the neighbouring powys counties of Dyfed. and Neal. E. 1972.The Nalbnat BadgcrSurvey. i4anmdt R?tie|', Gloucestershireand also lhe counriesot Devon, Somersct.Corn, 2:5564. {all. Dorscl, andAvon. Neal.E. 1986.7r" Ndrfi?t ttistorr of th? hattser| Chrjstopher Ilelm. London. ( Crcsswell?r d1. l9lt9) hlve estimrted ihlt therc rre cur- Skinner.P.. Jelleries. D. & Harris.S. t989. Badgerpe.securn,n renrly soue 250.000 adulr badgers in Britain. Ihis perceiled and the law. Occasionatpublicalion 10. The Mammat abundancehas led ro some calls for the retaxalion of Badger Sociely,London. legislation 1o p€nnir rhe hunring ol badgers on a quora Dasrs Surcliffe,A. J. 19a5.O the tra& of e ae( ndmnats. Bdrish lllarcombe. 1985).In rhc lighrof thecxtrernetyhigh rateof artack Muscum(Narural Hisiory), London. upon ihe b.dger poplrlarions ofctarnorgan in detianceot prore€_ Yalden.D. W. 1982.When did the rnnmmatfauna of rheBrirish rve legislation.aDy relaxation of the prole.ted slatusofrhe badger lsler an;yel Mdnmat Reriewt2:t-Si. is undcsirableand would ce(ainly result in the rapid kxs ot.rhc badgcrf.om largc arcasof Soulh Wales. I Environment.Lab., School of Historyand Archaeology,University of WalesCollege at Cardiff, Acknowledgements P. O. Box 909,Cardiff CFI 3XU, U. K. I we would like lo rhant all fiose membersof the Clanror- SouthWales Police, Pontypridd police Station, grn Badge. Group who hlve conrribuled ro thc setr reco.ding Berw Road,Pontypridd CF372'l'R, schemeand the LeagueAgainsl Cruet Sporrstbr lhcir assislance. Mid, (;lamorgan,U, K. We would also like to thank the Chief Constabteof Soulh Wates I Carreg Pentwyn,Mynydd Alltyrgu, ystalyfera, tbrhis pennissionlbr one of the aulhors(D. C. H.) roconkibutc ro thrs paper.Dr. David Thornasof the School of pure WestGlam., U. K. anil Applied a Bidogy in Cardiff kindly commenkd on an eartier drai of the TheGlamorgan Badger Gruup, (ilamorganNature Centre, Fountain Road, 'l'onddu, BridgendCF32 OEH, U. K. Thc clamorgan Badgercroup would tike lo acknowledge 'Care lhe financial suppon of ior rhe Witd . The Indian Grey Mongoose (Herpesteseilzoardsi) in the CirceoNational Park: a caseof incidental introduction.

GiuseppeM. CARPANETO

TheIndian grey mongoosc. tt q)6t?s khuttlsi (Geofitoy, l8l8). is onc of theco rrnoDcrand more widcspre d vivenid spccrcsr11 ranges lronr th€ ArabianeasL loast southwardsto soulhernIndia and Sri Lrnka andeastwards ro Ass,rln.Moreover. becluscof ils snakeclriDg and rodenrearing beh viour, iL w,rs olicn introducedby nraninto new areas, forrning wellesrrblished pol,ularionsremotc frun the originnlrNnge: i e. in Maldya.lhe Ryutyu Islands,Mauririus, and lhe Gredterand l,esserAntilles. Sc!crulndrt\c ,,nimul' ,enJ{mrc \f'cri .r ut lhe.dLounrri(, $ere €ndangeredby th€ presenceof rhisinvader.

TheCirceo National Park (south ofRrnne, in cenrr,rtIlaly) hasalways lead !difficult lilt owingr{) v{rious nnd hrrd problems: iUegalhousing, exceeding road nerwork, nrsoD. war€r poltulion, ltrayandferaldog!. wild boarsinexcess,etc. Dxringthe las hirly yearsmongooles have rcpresenrd ,r ful1her,rill n('w unresolved, problemof wildliie managenent.

In theerrly 1950's(likely 1952),neaf S. FeliceCircco. the ownerol r hoLelpurchased some mongooses and kcpt rhen free- rangingin hisgarden. inorderloeliminate both vipc.s androdenls. Shonlyaflerwards he losl €onlrolof th€seanimals, who spread 'nlo lhe surrouDdirgcountryside. Subsequeoily. Ibur specimens weret.app€d by rangersand kipt in €aptiviryibr exhibitionro visitorslone ol themwas preserved in lhelocal museum collection Fig. L Spre. ol the Indiar grey mongoos€lH.,Irrt"s ehaftlsi) and.lodl|y. il is lhe only materialevidencc ol rhefact. According rn CirceoNationxl Park.B lack slar:srarling rrca (ca. I 952); ro Torchi (1965),olher skins wer€ senl ro the BrjtishMuscum dor.. pr(ntrnc,lr,,nge in rhepenod ol mx\imunre\prn.ion (NaluralHislory) t|nd identified by R. W. Haymaoas H?rzerr.t (1978-1980);drshcs: horder of the narionalpark. edn?/dsriunder this mmc the specieswas quored h rhe ltatian fauna(Toshi. 1965i Biondi, 1985r Vigna Tnglianri, t988). The No informaiion is nvail.rblcon damagecaused ro wildlife cnoneousquotation ol Corbet( 1978)u,ho mcnriorcd the presencc by the inlroducedmongooscs (besides ihe above menri(nredde- ot H. hneunwrin rheCirceo N. P. waslater recrilicd by himself crease ol rhc Dumb€rof polecals).GroundDesling birds are very (Corb€t,1984). scarcc tn the area bul we hck data on the situarion bcfore the mongoose invasion . No ccDsusof frce-ranging mongmseswas In thesubsequcnt years ('60s and 70s) rhePark direcrion evcr made. tiuthennore n would be difficult to disringuishb€- hld nranyproblems lo faceso Ihatthe problen oflhe mongooses lween lhe dan ge causedby lhe mongooseaDd lhlt by the black wasneglccted. lhese animals had all fie tinre10 spre.d aU over ral. The eftecrs of lhc huer on wildlife have provcd to be Mt. Circcoand downwards 10 thc PontinePlain (Fig. l). In fact, dev$lalrng everywhcrc,.lndthe mongooseevidcntly hasnor been between19713 and l9li0. lhe mongooscsreached iheir maximum an ellicicnt remedy againstil. €xpansionand were licquenlly observed on thc$urheasr€m shore of SabnodiaLakc (kr. Bagnaraand Molclla).The samerirne. accordingtothe r!nge.s. the polecat(M ustelapttarrrr L.) became Biondi, M- 1985. Aspdti Jituninni d(l Parca Ndzkrule .l?t rarein lhat are.r.problbly hecauseof lhe compcrilionwilh the Cheo. Qurde.ni del Parco,6. Min. Asr.lirr-. P. N. Circco. Saboudia,47 pp- Corber. Ci. B. 191a. The manmkrlsol the Pdleaxli( Rqnn: u The Indiangrey mongoose, h rhc Park.showed a diumal tal,k),tit t(\'irr. Brhish Muscum (Nal. Hist.), Londur. behaviouranddid norlcarmani lome individuals wc.e oflen seen I 1,1pp. in thepicnic arcas of Mt. Circeo.teeding on burists leftolers.or Corbet. G. B. 1984. Iden. Supplenent. Brirish Museum (Nar. acceplingfood fron them. Hisr.),London. In rheerdy 1980\, the numberof mongoosesdecreased Toshi, A. 1965. Manmdlio. Lasonu, phd Rotlentid (:dtki2ro- suddenlywithoul any rclirblc cxtlanation:Do observarionhas Artioda(tJla-Ceta.ea. Faunad ltalia. Calderini. Bologna. bcennrade si'rce 1984 up to rhc present.In orderlo verify rheif Vigna Taglianti. A. 1988. Stato rttuale delle conoscenzesu a apparenrextinction, a spccilicinvestigation was carried out by biologia e l.r lonseNazione dei Camivori in lralia. firi. Mrurizio Biondi (pers.conm.) who set a numberol rrps wilh lgtdl. S.Allssl"a (suppl.), 14,40t 1t1. me t or lhrit as baitduring the springand sunrncr of 1984.Only blnckrars t{'erc collecled this way. showingrhal Rattus run s B Departmentof Animal and Human Biology commonand widesprcrd in thea.ea while the mongoosc Dright he Universityof RomeI, ltaly. extincror vc.y .are. l0 Estrogen-basedconditioned aversionto control egg predation: A non-lethal alternativefor mongooses.

Lowell K. NICOLAUS

Becausemongooses /H,Z.rres sp.) sonreriftesconsunre Sinceonc or two rnoderalc,rcute doses ol or,rleslrogen a.e rheeggs and young ofendangercdsp€cies on oceanjcistands and unlikely ro l'uluce steriliry,rhe only l.rsringeftact shouldbc elsewhere. rhey have trcn lhe objeci of occasionally hcroic aversionto eggswilhin ar otherwiscinlact populltionof mon- porsonrngand trappingcampaigns. Since these acrjvities are otien far lionr sel€ctit'c.they risk unintendedenvironmentat d.rmnge rdcludnrgrernoval of rare or cDdangeredmustclids and !jvenids. Collaboration Many.nmong rhe readershipmay have acccssro tiee- R!{enrl). ir hr. beeDsho$n rhrr $hen trc{ r rrringmJm rangingor captivemongooses thar can be usedtbr rcscarchon maran egg predalorsconsume one or two mcatsofeggs conrain_ questionsrelating lo anellective esrrogen-b|rscd aversion technol rn8 a very small doseof oral estrogen(17 alpha-erhinylesrradiot) ogy.I wouldwelcoms he.ring from anyoneinlerestcd in co abo- lhey fonn generalizedconditioned aversjon ro eggs (Nicotauss1 raliDgin this work. .r/.. 1989. ir prcss: Semel & Nicolaus, in prcss). Thar i!, tlrc estrogenrnduces an illness lasting for approxjmarelyrwo hours Referenc€s iDd long rftcr recoveringfrom rhe illncss prcdaiorsavoid eggs Gusravson,C. R., Gusia!son.J. C.. Young.J. l-., purmariega,A. whctherrheyconlain estrogenor nor.This is becauselhc effeclive J. & Nicolaus.L. K. 1989.Esrrogen induced nrataise. In: dole ofeslrogen in egg is undetectablysmatt and so rhc tasreofthe Newal o hd oJrcrod!.?n'., /rndidr (J. M. Lrkoski,J. egg is itself associarcdwiih rhe illness. R. PerezPolo & D. K. Rassin.eds.). Alan Liss,Inc., New

When captive and tree ranging mongooses l/de,prsrcr Nicolaus.L. K. & Nellis.D. W. t987.The tirsr evatuation of rhc d!roprn.lr:rrsl consumedeggs containing rhe chotinergic agonis{ useof conditionedrNre aversionto controlpredalion by clrbachol, thcy fomred conditionedaversion ro eggs(Nicolaus & mongoosesupoo eg{s.Appl. Anin Behar.5.i., t1:329- Ncllis, 1987). But, the iasrc and sceni of eggs trerted wirh 346. carbacholapp.ared to changc in the hear when placcd inlo the -. Farmcr,P. V.. Custavson.C. R. & cusravson.J. C. t9it9.The tleld- As a resuli, the avcfsion was shon remr (a matterofweeks) potentialol cilrogen-basedconditioned averlroDs u con rpparenily bccausemong(x)lies eventually discrinrinated between trolling depredarion:A srepcloser toward the 'magic rrealedNnd unlrearcd eggs. hullrt".4/,f/ 4rDr A,rJ' J,/.ll:l-ll. ..- , Herrera.J., Nicolaus, J. C. & Custavson.C. R. In press.Oral This problem may be reducedby using estrogen.An cgg ertrogenas an avenionagenl to controlegg predationby with a volume approximrtely 35 ml consritutesa futl Drealfbr a frec rangingpred{tors. 150 g temalc mongooseand nearly a IuU meal tbr a 50Og nule -. Semel,B- In press.Eslrogen,based condirtuned aversion ro (Nicola'rs & Nellis. 1987). lf such an egg conrained l0 mg of cggs nong Irce ranSrngraccoons. eslrogen, the dose for the lcmale woutd be 28.6 mg per kg mongooscbody weighrand for the malc thedose woutd be 20.0mg per kg. These doses r.e within rhc range likcty to producc Departmentof BiologicalSciences, Northern conditioncdtffte aversion.Since lemale mammats nray b€ some IllinoisUniversity, DeKalb, IL 601l5-286t,USA. wha! lessaflectcd by esirogcnrhan nules (GusrNvson./ ?/.. I 989; Semel & Nicolaus,In pressJ,the somewharhighcr dose thar rhc standrrdtrcated cgg would deliver ro fematenrongooses shoutdbe

ABSTRACTS

Newrecords oftwospecies of rare viv€rridsfrom Liberia The mongoosesof the g€nusGa&relld in Angola. Threespccicsorrnre vivcrids, rhe t_rb€rian mongoo\e /rrr.,rr?n r!r,r. Thcaurhor r.gues thal Mr,df ,r;td!r Thom$ t 92ll..dd ,t/ 1/r',r14{rj Africrn lilrsln8/P,n,k|r{rr,?r,ril. andiohnions gener/ai,ndtu i,hdo ) Robrnsl9l2. horhot rhencot[..redirr An8ola. rcprcscDr rsoc.tr)urphrje\ofrhc hav.reiricrcddnhburions ni WcstAtrica ud nrebelieved robt endangcred.I.hc sanrcip..ics,r{,whichheprolhrtthe.olt.qurxtn.nicLdrlrrrednron!oo:e.lnd RoynlOnrario Mu\eum aM TrronroZoo nrounr€dan cxpcdrrnmb Libeia ro {hrrthepnorscienlificnam.olrhnspccicsrs(;lr/.,?rzl/r.v.,1(Bocrle.t81t,)) nerenninewhcrlua parkdtrf tlrrlw.sptusenrinSapoN.!on, norwherherir (ong'nalnanciH.,/r.{,r.(,/rila.vrr./fu1.n.| /t,r"l. ltlttg,J' S(i. Mutl) snssrillpE\entin prcviousl)knownldcrtrries. Noneotrh.$ree slEcrcs wls rounJ PrrJ Nrr. l2)l:179. B€neuela.An!old). TID .trrhorcon\iders rlrl Cdl.,.//d r SrpoN. P burdn xduh femalc Z tt,/l,r wascoltccrcd fron rhecbi Ndionlt toresr. <1,,,3!r,.d>rogerherrirhC.rri.,rl.,.!naluF$IEcies.rcprcscnrctlinAngotx y)urh appo\rmarely3l kn eai ol llp.rl.ud rccordinSk'rhe viIaSesofMlii,L d leln byrhrccsp4ies:aj ?)r.z!1in rh.rmtral pt!re!u_nonhc8rqxrd\rr Lundr, (,rrrr waslho prc*d rn rheCiol.oiNr ,t5 ro rheeai ot Mlti(abo km nonhof a;,r'lliinlhcsourh.nearthcOvanrhohddhoder.andd/l/f.r.,r whrrhirturhcr Tapcrx).|mm q0.niod,nsrilla8c6 h rourhernNnnb!.nonhcri Crund Cedah md commonin Angolain {mid.€nic aft$ of rh. sourhcmImfdt, e\lentn! €r\r Sme Counties ir appearedrharair.,rnrb t ndl{'ngerpresnr in manyrrcaswhetu wardstothetringesofrlrplarcru,whereirpossibtynr.c(.ro'ertnn\cI/!ri rl ilonccexiied'lwospecnncDsolP ti hdtrlhni tihci?nlt *cft colecredrsnarivc \kiN ltuneastemLib€rir: onc lon Mali,afto.c ftun BaoTown No rrac!*!s craerord-Crbral, J. 1987(1139).1hcprior rientilic nanE orthr hraer rrd mrnBo* ( ,rnniir.: \jrcrridre:Hrrrk.tinr(,, l aylor.M. F),1989. New rccords ol !{o sD€.i6ot rare viverridsfromLibe.ia, Gor.ia de Ona, Sar. ZonL, l1l2).1-2. M anna tia 53 | | ). | 22-| 25. tl Conservationof the Europeanmink in Estonia

TiitMARAN

The srrrus of thc Europennmink (Must?la lutrcola) h^s Thc 1989suc€ess was in great pan achievedlhanks to rhe advice changeddrastcally during rhc laslccntury in Estonia,as wellasoD receivedfrom lhe Black lboted feffet Recolery Term . r gnrbal,ic le. The nrmber of the specieshrs hcenesrimnted to bc .10.000-45.000in thc Sovicl Uni{)n. As the major p!.t of the At p.esenl we have 15 Europeanminks (8.7) i Tallinn I-luropennminks distribulion is on the rerrilory of rhe Soviel Zoo, with eighr of rhem bom in captivity. Hopetully we will h€ Llnion, ils rorxl nunbcr cannorbc considc.ablyhigher (Tumanov ablc ro breedlhe spe€iesresularly in the yea.s lo come. & Zverjev, l9lt6). Although rhis figure sccms ro be high. i! aclually is not. considcring lhc range of the species,$d rhc The !im. lor rheh,llosin! r$o )eaf\ ar( rccufucy of the numb€r has occasionallybeen qucstioned.The l. lo secureregular breedingoI the Europeanmink in crptivity rangeol rhc EuroFan nlink h.$ decrcascdby ahnosl 80./., and if 2. lo maintain nnd possibly increasegenetic variabiliry in th. rhc specd of decline does not slow down, lhc sFcies may be caprivc popuhtrcn cxtrDcl wilhin l5-2{) years.In such a situaln)n captive breeding 3. lo esrablisha secondbreeding ccntrc oursideof T.llmn's becomesessenlial ns a s,rleguardIor thc sFcies survivnl. .1. to invcstigatcthe porsibilities ol eslablishing! nrturc In l9ltl lhe first effortswere mide in TallinDZoo to obtxin rescn'c f(tr the Europ€anrnink somcwhcrcwithin irs p.evious Buropeanmioks. In l9U4 prqjecl Lul.eola was srancd. range 5- Lo sccl internationalco-operartun in studying different The proiccr hasrhe followitrg ai s: to evnlualc rhc {lislri aspectsof rhe biology of this specier bution and numbe.s of the Iiuropeannrink in previous rimes: to 6. lo sel up addittun:rlrnink colonies in other capiive breeding collect dala on its currenl statusrto clear up the causesof rhe instilulions wilh mimals bo.n in Tallinn Zo decliDeol ils nunrber:lo clpturc minks in the wildr lo study rhc \ ariousbiological aspecrsoi thc mink. and to find possibililicsfor evablishing a nlturc resene for minks.

I)uring l9lt4 1988rhe statusand dislribuiion offie Euro peanmink in Esloniawcre clrrified (Fig. lt Maran. 1988)and lhe enclosureslbr rhe brccdingprogranlme were buill in Tallinn Z@. Some of the touDderslock was lifet.apped in Estonia and addi- tionalanimalswere obtainedliom olhcr localitiesin the European part of the Soviet Union: ' nine(8-l) liom NorthEsronia (19134 1988) one( 1.0)from CeDrnlEsbnia ( 1987) tour ( 1.3)Iromrhe CentftlFo.esr NaturcReserve Kalininregion ( 19135). onc (0.l) lon thel-eningrad region (1987) ? u\ l \ok' - lwo (l.l) horn a fur farm (1984and 1987).which, hot|cvcr, wcrc nor used in rhe breeding programmc bccauscof lheir Fig. 1.Distribution of rhc Europeanmink lMrrreld /,r//"r1d)and unknown subspecilicorigin. rhc Americantnink (Muslelari.mn) in Estoniain 1980- 1987. Two lypes ol enclosureswere used io keep the mink in crptrvrly: Twelve enclosuresmersuring 5 x 2 x 2 !n wilh a pool (l x I x 0.5 nr).'lheenck)surehastwowallsmadcofbricksrndmothe.two There are many opcn questionsconccming rhe biology as wellas con\istingof2.5 cm meshwcldcd wire panels.The lloor is nrade lhe conservalioflofthe Eurcpeanmink which are difticult ol concrcre$'ith I sand lnyer (0.,1m) on ir. In every enclosure lo solve on a local l€vel. The rask of presefting a speciesis an rhereare one or rso r$o (humt'efnesl boxer inl€malional one, thcrefore it would be useful 1()exiend mink Fur llm lypc .!ges measuring0.90 x 0..15x 0.,15m with r researchnnd conseNarionro an inremationalco-operaiive projccl. wodlcn one chambernest box on onc side. +RegularbreelineoftcEuro!.an frink wdsobr.incd lorrhc tu\r rime by l)r.l). V Tcn$vsktn rh€In(nure ol aioloAyin Novoribnrkcr. 25yc.6 a8oThc mnrls The lirst resulrsin b.eedingEuropean minki we.e obtained sere!l\o E8ularlybrcd b! Dr N. N. Mosh.ikinonrbc AeRhm Nrture RescBe in 1986whenlwooilhe zoo'sfemalesgavebinh*. Allfouryoung grew up successfully.In I9il7 thercs crc two Iillers lolalling lhrec kits. bur rll lhrce died fro unknowr cruses.ln 1988we could not Referenc€s {chieve any success,rl all. probrbly becausc of disru.bances Maitn, T. 1988.Naaritsa levik Eestis:ajalooline iilevaade. tdrli cauied by noisesirom building acrivirirs in rhe neighbourhood Uhtk 5:29 50. {n.l so'ne dislurbing experimer|s-The ycar 1989 was very suc, Tumanov,I-& Zverjev.E. L. 1986.Sovremenno€ pasprostron€nie cessiul:xll rh.c. brceding femalesgave birth. One youns died in i isislennostevropeiskoi no.ki fMrrle/d l!r"o/d/ v SSSR. irslirsr r nrth,bur rhc orhers (fourlemales) grew up succcsslully. Zoot.2., 6s(3):126435. l2 Minks in Poland

JeTzyROMANOWSKI

At presenl,Poland's Amefican mink fM,rr/./dfis.tr) popu a.ea.and anothcrscnri aquatic inuslelid, lhc olter.has sulaived lationis still increasingir number-The narivespecies. rhe Euro herein highnumbers. lt is alsoknown lhat dre Europ€rn nrink still pern mink lMrrlrid lu!rcola), be.^me extrenrelyrare in the o.cursin the USSRin rhevicinity ofthe Potishborder. beginningof this century,and no daraare aldilable on irs aclu.rl prcsence.Isthis animal extinci or unnoticeablebeca On lhe other hrnd wc nray expectrhrL rhc widesprcad nowadaysin Pollnd'l A'nericanmink. whichis srill ircreasingin number(Ruprechi.l d/.,1983: Romanowski .r d1.. 19134. Zurowski & K{'nnrler.1987) 1trthe ITthccntufythe European mink was a rnresp.cies in canrcduce the chance lbr survival of lheEuropean mink nrPolard. centralEuropc and little wrs known of iis dislributionand Althougha negalileinlluerc€ ofthe fbrmeroD rhe European mink biology.The Polishnaturalist Pietruski (1853) was prob.rbly the is controversial.it is olien reponedto occupyareas ahMdoned by hnt to keeprhis specicsir cnptivity,and b€ingvery proudto theaboriginal sp€cies. Americ.rn minks were observcd in Bialow- "Linnaeus possessar animalthat and Buftbncould neverhave iczaPrimeval Forest and nearElblag (i. e. whcrcthe last Hurop€an seenalivc he gave somedchils on ii's habils.By ihat time ninks nr Polandwcre recorded),and this probablyindicares ihc Europcanminks occunedin Polandin two rreas:tne nonncm exlinclionof fie nativespecies in theseareas. Perhaps lhe bcst {Odra River basin).where rhcy becameexlincr already in thc chancestbr survival of theEuropean mink arerhe fal norlhemnnd l8l0s. and the eastem(Mrzurian Lakesand areasalong rhc tar soulhenstempans of the count.y.These areas o er nol only castemborder ol Poland).where they were found up to Woddwar rclativelyun€hanged habitats, but arealso sparscly inh bited. ll. In theBialowieza Primeval Forest ihe lasrEuropean rnink was observedbeforc i903, and the lasr specimensin Polandwere Soit is stiilnotpossible to answer$e queslionwh€therlhr collectedin thenortheast near Elblag in 1925-26Che hisrory ofrhc Europ€anrnink survivesin Polandor not. An actionro involve occurrenccofthe Europeanmink in Polandis knd by Ruprechr.l naturalislsltnd hunten io collectingdara on minks is bcing r//..1983). prepared.There is alsothe possibilitythar field surveyswill bc caniedour rhis year.Bur will rhercstill be Europeaomink in Thereare, nevenhcless, som€ later observaiions ot anim.rts Poland? lhat couldbe Durcpeanminks. They were reported by the forcsr oflicer from rhe MazurianLakes in 1952t96,1. Howcver. the sNc'es ideniiticalbncannot be cenifiedrrhe shol animalwas Pictruski.S. K. ltl53. Ndtual Histlr.\ oJ nhmnab. Ilw6vt. (;n i.lcnlifiedby lbe prcsenceof a whitespot on rhechesr, but such Polish) spotscrn alsoappear on Americanmink fu.s (Ruprechl.r d/., Romanowski,J..Kaszuba. S.& KozDiewski,P.1984. New ddraon 1983).There rre alsopiciures raken by w Puchalskilhatwere lbr the oacurcDceof minks(Mnmmalia, l\4ustelid:re) in Po rhelirst limepublished in 1951.These picturos ponray two young l^nd.Pn Zaol..2a:22122-1. (in l,olishwith EDglishsum- nrinks.borh with regulrrwhire parches around lhc nose,and as ma.y) rhusidentified as Europein mink. As Puchalskidied in 1979,iL is Ruprecht,A. L., Uuchalczyk,T. & W6jcik. J. N4. 1983. Ihe possiblcto verifi now whcrherrhese picrurcs were taken on the occurcnceof mioks(Mammllia. Musrelidae) in Poland. NarewRivcr. in nonheasrPolnnd. orearlier. ncrrLvov, where rhis Pt :. 2.o1.,27 :81 -99. tn Polishwirh Lnglishsumn ry) well knownphotographer 1iled in thc l9l(h. Zurowski.w. & Kinrmlc.. J. 1987.Anrericar mink in beuver's sitesin Poland.Pt:. Znl., lt:st1521. (in Polishwith It seemslhat destrtethe lackol cvidence-lhe prcsenceof ED-glishsunnmry) Europeanlninkineastern Pol,rnd isquite possible. Hnrdly anydara crn be collecrcdon \uch a rareaDd lecretive animal w;thout a specralprojccr. {nd sucha projccrhas not b€enundertaken yet. PolskaAkademia Nauk, Instytut Ekologii, SuirablehabiLats such as streamsrnd riversbordcred by vegera- Dzi€kan6wLesny, 05-092 Lomianski, Poland rion.lnd rnarshyr.crs as well nreslill commonlyfound in thal

MEETING ON THE EUROPEAN MINK IN FRANCE 13 FEBRUARY1990 MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, NEUILLY S/SEINE,FRANCE

Herv6 MauriI Sc.rirrrirr F!unc Iild'c (S.F.F) ltlrNiu.r Nrrn)n! dllnr)ift MrnincBigrnl)irecrlond.lxPnnecriondct.NruE.Minijaredct.Envnonnemenr. Ndurelle,57rucCuvi.r.75l:llPrrnCedcx0S(Tr!nxi.rdcl!S.FF. P.M.) 1.1.boulcyxrd du C;oid Lc.lc(.9252:l NeuillyVseine Cedex Pi.rc Migot OtTiccNII de lr Cha\f (O N C.). 85bi\ Av dc Wrgrxn 750l 7 Prn\ Mdie Chinore Sainlctons P'lsntnrcdc tas&ieG FftnqaN pourtErudeer ta li.ngon MoulouCN E.V A l-rhmroire Cenml ne Recher.h.s Vdriirn.iA Bp puceur. Protectnndes Mannrillres (S li.D.P.M.).Bohatlad, 4,1190Non, 67.94703Ii{risoD:All{)nCele\(S.crl|!lr.d! rS l.LPM I

Alinr Ja.qlesBnunGroup€dErude Visond Euop€, Lc Madl 56lT0Lcilburdu It{{dirrc Bjgan. on behalf ol rhc Miniiry oi [nvformenr oNnrt rhc nEctngand $elcomcd rhepdicipanrs. Fou' orhcrpcAotrshM hc€ncoD(.rrrd bul LnrnclLdlontrincGoupc nranlnnl{'giquebrdon R€unig. Marsondc hRiviire. werctrnablcbconre.lh.nrcciingonrheEurop.lDmlnlk)okph.'nlhc.onrtrl ofr lrrger prcjc.r.xlled Obscrvdr)ire.le t! llune er J. I l]orc rture \pe.rnl JcanMare Llmould PrrcZoolqiqueci Boranique,5lnrdu JrrdinZ{xnogique. lpccicscotrldreceivcspccirlarenrnrnandicrr!s.D.nch,Vrrllrltatutu \\Mt 68lm Mulhousc. 13 European minks: Captive breeding, hybridisatiory and introduction

Roland WIRTH

Through Tiit Maran we lenmedof rhc researchand breed rnt.odu€lion experimenls.Ncarly everywhere wherc non nlrive ing programmecarried our by Dr. Temovsky in Novosibirsk_Dr. lpecies werc inlroduced successfully.tbey have upset the local Ternovsky has been studying the Europeanmink fMrrr./d 1/r"- ecosysrem.This is especiallylrue with introducedcamivorcs md ,rr lin scveraldecadesand is runningrquitc successfuI breeding concernhas alreadybeen expressedin the Sovier Union lhat rhe programme.ln addirion lo breeding pure Eu.opeanminks he is minks inlroducedto lhe Kuril Islandscould extenninrre some of also ancmptinS lo produce hybrids bctwecn this species and thc rare endemic rcptilcs therc. Although conservalionof thc va.ious olher Au.asirn muslelids.notably polecnts tMasn d prr.r $orlJ' Ihrealenedmu.telr,l anJ \iveniJ,|t'{ie. rs ou' Inrrr /trs/ andSiberian weaselslMrrk /d rirn n a). Suchhybrids proved (uni(rn. we \hould nrvrnhelessdr\.orrrJge rn) c^n\'^J|lon to be fenile and Dr. Temovsky believesthatthey would makc p.r activity lbr any of these specics which puls othef threatencd licularly valuabletur animals.He alsolricd ro hybfidize European wildlife in jeopardy. and Anrericanminks rMtrsleld uro/r, but despilemltny dtempts never succecdcd.He now b€ljevesthat the two mink speciesare Introducing European minks to some ecologi€al or rrue not at allck)sely.el.{ed. Both sp€ciesalsoh.rvc differenr chromo- isl.tnd which the American mink cannot colonize rraturnllymay sonre numbers,38 ;n lutreold ^nd 30 in rlro, rcspccrively.The eventually be neededto safeguardrhe suryivll of rhe Europeln ruperficjal nrorphobgical linilarity belween thc two speci€s. mink, but this shouldpreLrably be done within rhehistoric range lherelbre, lould be a result of convergcDceralher than close of the speciesand in any case (whether within or ourlide the laxonomic rclalionship. natural range) only aiier a dcrailed and exrendedstudy ol rhe idenutredrelex\c a'eJ r,' m:rle .ure rharby :ol\ inp,,ne \nnsen a. Becaus€Dr. Temovsky belicvcsthatthe rapidly cxprnding tion problem (i. c. eslablishinga sale free-living population ot Amcricm nink populalionin Europemly eventuallyoutcompcrc ,'lust?la luh-.ola) \|e nrc not creatinganorher onc. No such study every sinsic suNiving lreeliving Europ€{nmink (an assumption has been undertakenin lhc Kuril Archipelago. nol everlbody rgrees with, and clearly nuch more researchis needed herc) thus causing ihe specics ro become extinct, hc I havetwo moreconcems. We were unablcso far roexclude undenook somc rllcmpts to rntroducecaprive bred European thar the animals at the Novosibirsk lnsritute are srbspecieshy- minls 1o rreas where the speciesis nor nrrive ard the Arncric.rD brids. Prelerablyonly animals of well,known geographicorigin mink docs nol (yet'l) occur. So hc.eleased 318 ninks on rhe shouldbe usedin any.e,introduclion orintroducrion project.And islandsIru.uf and Kunasir in rhe Kuril A.chip€lago in rhe pertud finally. ifmusrclid specieshybrids nake indecdgood fur animals l98l-1988. Thcrc rrc some indicationsthal rhe releasedanimals and will evenlually be b.cd in large numbersin comme.cial tur hav€ stariedto mulliply and that the population is increaring.ln farms what iflhey escap€?Thereis probablynola singlelarge fur lglttl Dr. Temovsky released 106 minks in Tadzickistan. ln farm from which an occasionalaninal hnsnot escrpedor animnls additionhe sent25 specimensto a fur farm in the TararAutonomic have bcenreleased by ill-infbrmed animalwelfare groups.Ifsuch Regior and anothcr 50 aninals to a fur fann in Kasir. Siberh. hybrid animnls estlblish themselves in the wild and sta( to Some45spccimcnsa.e still in hisinstirurbn in Novisibirskascore bdckcrosswith eitheror both of the parentspe€ies we may witness rhe d'sappearanceoi l(]cal popuialionsor even whole subspecies and specicsrhrough hybridisarion. Thc hreedingsuccesses achieved at Dr. Ternovskys insri ture .r€ remarkable(and we are happythat he sharesour concem Franz-S€nn-Slrasse14, 80fi) Miinchen,FRG. lor thc survival ol lhe species).bul we are wonied aboLrtthe

Whxrl.ltno{ ofrhcEurcp.annrink n Frdce isnillweak.Thenr@ lrom (c.|,)urparen-nrorphololy.gerrri. re{: fron hkxxl orhairsamplctThe ideaol rh. Arln\dcsMrmmili&x s.uvaees&Fnn.e . publislr.dbyS.F.E.P M. in 193.1 iJLnr., rtri.r \erLlingFm'p Inri bc.on'derdrtR:'1. r\ rfn{ {tI) Thcrtsulrolrhe\uncycrnicd odbt O N C in 19R:land*hichis (itl h t{. Nblishcd.m.r.$ .dd snne infonrtion. as rhc ldal {rfreys rron Bri any Thedecisions aF astbllowsi rnonh:L. Lrl.trtxinci soudr:A J. Braun).lhc que$bn ol rhc.ledr dinincrion - () N C. $illrheck illhcsun.! involvrng$en ledl .fficen i!po$ibler.J rhei l{1{.ci nrrire Fur.l.rn rnd fenrlAnrricrtr 'nin\\ is srill to besolved. Thc ne{ S.F.F.will publishrlre,ndp ot the Eurupeannrink dkriburion b6ed on n\ue oirhe Frcycbpddiedcs Can,v.res,le France publishcd by S.F.E.Pltl. ^ S.FE.P.M.. O N.c..andBriuany dnta iiles dcvolcdk,thcr*ospccicsoln'iks.lrwillbervaihblcrcrysmn0ndbringbeerher. Allp.aresinvolvedhdveroconsiderwhattheyc.nconriburebrhencxrniccrins Gchcdulcdtor Al]ril 26.1990)in regaftlIo rrapping.gcncri. re\ts. and caprive

Thfte populrn]n\oi lruropcMrnnik nr\ nill FAin in Frlnce ODco Inirhn!.ndrrtcrbccrtrscof rxminEof Amerc{n'nark(cotrsidcrcdr\rt€s)Md Inrhcn..ntnDc.whcnEutuFanninkor'\u\I,€credEurdFdnninkrre rln.ugh mirnlcnrilicdbn Anorhcr.l(tr'grhe chxrenre River. md a rhnn n rhc txpp.d dr launddead.lhey must b. kcF iDdccp litczc andnor b€ loi. A tocal l rnde\.The hllcrl!o mi! b. in b.trercon(li(ion NarurdHNdr Museunr*ill beastcd tocollccrrhenr

We nn.ndbfld i {trvcy iIcvcry dcFnnrnr whcrchision.alrer.(( ol As colle.ercs.urside ol FranceaE inleFstcdin wharnay bedone heE. rlrEurlf,rnn nlernr Thi\couklbcdoncb.rs.eroN c an{lsF.E.P.M.ltisrlro wcwill nnt in bu.h *irh rhemand inform rhcm oiour poje.r (t.tJC.N.. Osnabrnck rnI)tnrnrt)rhcrIrh.hn|oqofAmcflcdmirklinnnrgii.erroInowshenrhe LhrivcNny.xnd Tnllinn 7ir iorinnance). lrAr c\.rpcs.rv hd!. h+Fned In lhc ficl(l horcv.r. Ern)Fri ninl nry he n,nrd.rflicd xs,^m$i.d irnk orN R)hcd in rhedrrk phascAs r renrlrofrlr FraflSois Moulou. ( .\.8.V.A. (eai nnr). .\tr(irlly i tonrnt maybc lo.dcd: rh. kindol riveR.banks. .nd Laboratoire v.g.irrn m\t rtt'crutrd ntr in(3nc.. rnd rhererp.cixl r{tnr8 r3n heunder Central de Rech€rchesV6t6rinair€s. Lrl.r k).rr.h r lN\ rirnrl\ rlivo Thi\ rorkl helpto clcnrl! id.Mly rh. \n!cie\ 8P67.9'170-l Msisons-Alforr C€d€x, France l4

Viverrid and mustelid captive breeding highlights

1989saw a numberofsignificani capiive breeding achicve Whilethe upsurge in interestio n)ustclidsand viverrids as rlenrsjn!olving tour cndanpe'ed or li le known,pr(ie.. indicatedby thesebreeding achievemenrs is most errcouraging. ir shouldalso be bom nr mind thatof the specicsmcntn)ncd .rbove The first of ihcseis ihe lremendoussuccess of thc Black only one,the black'fooledfeffet, is subiecrro a bng lermconser iootedlenet, Mr.rre/d n/9, ?rr-, brecding programmc. No lessthan ,ralionorien(ed b.eediog programmc.ln facl, apan fron aregional 79 kitswere born du.ing 1989 and 62 survived,thereby morc thrn progmmmetbf the wolverinein Scandinavia,the black-fooled doublinglhe numberof knownsurviving black,lboted ferrels in lenct is the only speciesundcr the mandateof tlre Mustelid& Viverid Group which is subjectto a SSPrype b.ccdingpro-

The Black-lboredFenet Recovery Team also assisted by sendingvery delailedinfonnarion on musrclidcaptive manage Howevcr,brccding programmes lbr rwo orherlpecics are Drentlo the TallinnZoo (Esronia).for applicationro thcir Euro- in the prccessof being developed.One involvesthe Lib€rian pcan mink, Mr.rrL,/dlutteola. breedingprogramme. Pracrical mongoose.Lir.rlnrir lr/rri. for which the Metro TorontoZn) succcsswas achievcd when allthree temales inTrllinn whelp€din ,C nrddrhds rc(cnrl) inirirred a InrrorLon*1\Jfio pr,,!r nnre. 1989.Although one female killed andate her kits,rhe other rwo If TorontoZoos effo(s in Liberir in 1990are successfuland successfullyraised four olfspring. femrlcsare obtained for thesinglc male lhat is presentin Toronro. ihis wiu bc tumed into a fill scaleSSP programnrc as soonrs CincinnatiZoo (USA) rcporredthe birth of rwo Banded linsangs,Prionodan linsar.g, in May. Althoughbanded linsangs arenor thought to be ihreatcnedat present,they are vcry poorly Attemptsare also under way to expandthe European mink known.To thebesl of ourknowledge, rhe specimens in Cincinnati breedingprog.amme in Tallinnand to 1umir inlo dn inrernalional arethe only ones in captivityoulside south easrAsia, and ir is only cooperariveeffon involvingolher instirurions. lhe secondtime that binhs of the specieshave been recorded oulsideAsia. The firsr birrhocc'rned in 1968in lhe now d€funct It is impo.lant to nole $at etlch of the lhree spe€ics WassenaarZoo in rheNerherlands. programmcsmentioned above also includc considerable etlbns ro study,protect and reestablish these animals in the wild. Finally,a singleFossa, C/ )p tt4r-odaferox, wasbom zt San DiegoZoo (USA) in Junc.While fossashave mulriplied in cap- Manyothersp€cies would also benifir liom projecrswhich tivity in threeEuropean zoos in recentyearsChe parentsofihe San combrneconservation efforts in the wild and caprivebreeding Diego fossababy are themselvescaprive bom ir Europ€)rhc initialives.We hopethat the citedexamples will stimularemorc breedinssucce$ in SanDieso represents the lirsl caprivebreeding zoosto cooperatewirh lhe Mustelid& vive.rid Groupin planning lor lhis specicsin the westemhemisphere. andinililling programmeslbr olhcrspecies.

Colombian weasel threatened by mercury pollution?

Wildlife ConservationIntcmational in New York .epons resultjng tiom gold panning. I hivc rccently dra$n Wildliie rha{ EcuadorsPodocarpus National Park is threatenedby rhe ConservalionIntcrnational's atiention to the fact rhal lhis aninrrl, intrusionol ncarly2,000 gold seekers.Although pc$rly known which is gcnerally describedas South Americas.arest and lensl inlcm,rlionally,Podocarpus NP ir a cruciallyi.nponant prorecred known camivorc,rnay exist in PodocarpusNPand havesuggested rrca lbr I numb€roflhreatened species.lt probably represenrs the th.tr the speciesbe includcd in thc plannedwildlile srarussuney lasrmajor stronghold lor two pa.rotspecies: lhe colden-plumed for the region.Funhcrmorc, tlrc Colombian weaselmay be a key ?&\keet ( t.?phsi utu bkrni.tii) and the Red-raccdpano( fgar'l specieslbr siudying thc cxtent and effe€tsof the mcrcury pollu- l.tsittard prrrhops).It alsoholds populations of numerousolher r.rre species.including the mo\\traif. rapi., Tattirus pnklnqle. Lcuming more aboutMrsr.ia /di,ei ir one of tlre Croup ! The Colombian\ |.^i'el. Mustelaftlip"i. has neverbeen hrghestpriorilics. Gmup member Merav Ben D.rvid and Roger collectedor repoflcdfron or in thevicinny ofthe park.However. Cox hrve prepared a proposal to study the weasel eirher in only a singlespecimen has been collected in Ecuador,and tiom Colombia (if and whcD the political situationallowt or in Ecua whatliitle we knowabour lhe habilatprelerences and attirutional dor. Anybody willinS Io help wilh lunding should write to Ms. distribulionlimirs ofthe species.il maywell occurin podocarpus Mcfrv Ben-David,l0 lladdar Street,75910 Rishon Lc Zion. NP. When Roben lzor (one of ihe scientisrswho originally lsrael for funher details. desctibedMustelaJelipeit prepar€d a rnapof theassumcd disrribu tion of lhc speciestbr our CroupsConservation Action Plan.h€ includedrhe souihem Ecuadorean Andes where Podocarpus NP is RolandWirth, Franz-Senn-Strasse,14 8000Miinchen 70. FRG. If the Colombirnweasel does oc€ur in this area,n is probablyseriously endangered by themercury pollurion of rivers l5

Mustelids and viverrids in SoutheastAsian zoos

Fronr Koen Brouwer oi lhe Narional Foundationfor Re- Bangkok 1.2 (lasr litter bom DNS) searchi'r Zoolosical G{rdens', The NerherhDds,we receivcd a 6. Bandcd linsang ''whos fPrn)nodo litltdrs), keeping Whal? in u.rcus zoos ol Thailand. Malaysia. Bangkok Ll. Khao Khcow 1.0,PltLa 0.0.2 aod Singapore. 7. Small toorhedpalm c;yer (Ardosdli.lia tirirgdta), tjp lill Novcrnber 1989the iollowing spccieswere hetd: B.mskok, Kuala Lumpur Musrelids: 8. Cornmon palm civer fParutlDi tut h?nnphrclitus) | -lhro.ll(J l. Y{ll'.u mrrtent tld t\ JlJ,;:uld. Pa(a0.0.1 (albino). Bangkok, Kurh Lunrpur (nan]), Sirga BxnSkokl.l (0-2bonr DNS). Chiang Mai 0.I 2. Largc roothed l:etrctb^

The otter-civet: good and not so good news

The single otteFciver (C\ttogale hennpnii) h B^ngkok dealhs- More recenlly, in 1987, an anjmal was obscwed in n Zoo hls died. This was,ro our knowledge.rhe onty representative lributary of lhc Bole River. The fact ihal mosr of these areas, of rhis sFcies ir capriviry al the momenr.OtteFcivcts were. at especiallyTigcr Eshte and Sungai Pin now are plantationsand diffcrcnt linres. kepr in Bangkok (Thaihnd). Catcuua (tndia). thalexrensivelogging is going on in Bomeo.iogerhc. with lhe facl (Malaysia). Taip€ng wassenar. (Holland ), London (UK). and San thal no specimensare kept in caplivity anytnoremakes it all the (USA). 'Recommanded Diego On the other hand. a number of sightings of rhc more urgcnt that the Acttuns" proposedin rhe jn ''Musrelid otler-civcl in Sabah.Bomeo. a.e repodedby Chen Hin Keong & Vivenid 1989Consenation Acrion plan are implied Maloyn Ndttue (1s88. 1(l/1):67): An old record datins fron ar soon as possible.The olrerciver hasalwayr beenrhoughr rare l957.rnd involving an anirnalof unknownsex, bur a anddcclining rhroughourirs rangeand ils laststronghotdmaywell r lemxlc and one young, in a srreamon Tiger Estate,Tlw . t€ Bomeo. It is of rhe urmosi imporrancethai a study of lhe Recordsdding from 1980 ro 1982 of animals c.ossing the Sln specic$exacthabilat requirementsshould be undertakenind that dakan-LahndDatu Roadar SungaiPnr. also roadkills and huntnrg an experimcnralbreeding proiecr is ltarted.

...fromJarujin Nabhitabhata:Viverrid news from Thailand

Al prcscnl.I am conducringa surveyol the clplive muste- Iicular spcciesby radio-lracking:theirrelations lo rhe changing I'ds rnd viverrids in bolh govenrmeniand privatezoos: alsoon rhe occuoenceof all lhe native speciesin the proiectedareas of rfiis - li"'J preferenLc\Jn(i.ource:: :1nJI),i,,,t dropprng,

The investig,rtor.Mr. Saks'rhi Simcharoen,tudio tracked Good Dewsfron Bangkok (Dusit)Zooi rhe pair ofspoxed and tollowed for severalmonths. some even {hroughourih€ year. ttnsnn$(Prit tutl.,t pdtdi(rr.)rl have hrd a third litter. The direc, five specirncnsoffollowing species:one malc Snrall Indian civer lor ol lhe zoo. Mr. Jirn Mekvichai. is inter.stedto conducrn cap (Vne ituhn tua ),t\|o mrle Comtnonpalm civersI Parudovrus rive brcedingprogrannne forendangered spccics and askedne ro hcntat'hro.linls). one felnale Masked p^lm ciyet (Pdsund lar (o..pcr.,r.. I lh'N r,' be Jbl( r,, r.F,n.I irll rlri..uon. rzldl. flrndone male Lrrge lndian ctuet tVi\.eta .ibeth.t).

RcccnIly. f|oln Decenrber| 987 to DecembcrI 988. tr study Additioml species.also obsened bu1 not radio rracked. $,ascondLrcted in Huri Kha KhaengWildlife Sanctuaryin wcsrenr were rhc Small,toothedpalm. 'li,ril.rnd tiyet lAt.tog.ilillia n nt-.qdra).the ro dcrcrmine the lbllowing Nspeclsof vilerrids in rhe Binrwnng(A^ tir Iis hintu,?,,R1,and the Large-sponed civet I l,t!?/r? wild: ,'rsdsl,i/dl. The srudy hasbeen compleied and nfrer p.es€niingir spcciesslrr!e! $ilhin lhe Srncluary tothe FacuhyofForestry, KasetsanUniversity. it will b€ repo(ed - honre ringe. loc l |ll|lemcnts, and daily xctiviry ofeach par on ir one of rhe nexl issuesof th€ Newslelrer.

lo Metropolitan Toronto Zoo: 1990Liberian MongooseResearch

Again, ourgoals willbe ro try andobtain infonnation on the heterogeneitypresent in the fblrnder stock. Becauselhc oriSinrl sraruslnd dist.ibution of this mrc speciesand what can b€ done group ol iburders likely will be snall. a cxretully dc\'gncd regardingits conseNation.The IUCN hasprcposed thal as pan of breeding progran is required to aloid loss of genelic lrn.rkin a conservalion€ffo( a captive breedinggroup of Liberirn mon- through inbreedingand genericdrift. goosebe established.We are proposingtwo breedingplans rn Ihis regard.The firsr will involve a small number ol rninrals (up to 6) Melhods: rnd if successlulprfl ol rhe first generationoffspring may be Two lleld seasons(l99ul99l) will be requiredlo rc liTe the inlroducedhack t() Libcria and monitorcd.Once we find out more project objecrivcs-During 19q0, we pr)pose ro spcnd:rpproxi aboulrhe specics and ils distribulion,we will thenbe ablc lolssess lnately six months in lhe field ,rttenrflirg ro locate lnd crpturc IIre needfbr rhe second,long rerm. breedingprogram which will monSooses,lnd to bcgin the sludy of diversily lnd conruuni\ involve at leasi l4lbund€rs. The beslchance lbr successwill be ro srruclurcof mammds in Lherwo forcsl rcserles. TI|e llr.riofrrl ol sponsor an M.Sc. graduatc sludent ro work in Liberia on this fieldwork (three to fou nonrhs) will be conducredb\ an l\4.Sc. pfoject. sludentfrom rhc Univcrsity of Toronb (Mr. Pctcr Vrn dc (l(r)l) and a Liberian lleld assislant.The community study will be rlre Objectiv€s: basisfor Petels M.S€. thesis. L To contiDueattempts ro captureand study th€ l-iberian nron' EooseILihetiklis kuhni) in G bi and SapoNational l,ark, andto Blood sanrpleswill be rakenfrom live trappednrongooses continue lh{: gcncral survcy and conservationeducation pro, prior to their inclusion into the breeding pfogran of lo their gramsfor the lpecies in l,iberia. Al most. three pairs oflibc- relense.Samples will be assayedlbr protein vnria{ion al appioxi , ii. rir will bc removedover the iirsl year toestablisha captive maiely 30 geneiic loci. using gel electfophoresis,to dete ine breedingcolonyat ihe Meiro ToronroZoo and the FDA orpha lelels ofgenetic variation in naturalpopulationsand in thc crl'lile n'tge. breedingdiversity the mitochondrialDNA also will be exanined. To completesurveys of mamn,rlianfauna begun in Gbi and Viverrid carnivoresare highly viriable chromosoorally.however. Slpo NltnrnalPark. rhe karyoiype of tiri,inlir is rnknown. The karyotype nnd rn) Tu conducrr Lompararite\rudy oi manmalirn(.,mrnunir) chrcmosalvariation rn the captivecolony will be examinedusinS (ructurein disturbed(Gbi) versu! undisturbed (Sapo) forests. cultured $'hite blood cells. Al1 analyseswill be perfornredb) Dr. To assaygenetic variation innatural and cap(ive populrlions ol Engstrom,Assiltant CuratorofMrmmak)gy. al the RoyalOntario the l-iberiannongoose as a guideio breedingstrategy rnd maintenaoceof genericdiversity in capliveb.ecding sbck. h the compamlive ecological study of Gbi and Sapo Rational€: foresls.domin{nt vegelalionwill be nrappedand identificd wilh Additionll sludy of the distribution,ecology, and rraturalhistory the aid ol local Liberian lbresr specialists.Snrall mar Dals (pri 01 rhc Libcriln mongooseis neededto locateextanl populalions. marelyrodenrs. shrews, and possiblybars) will be rhe lbcrs ol rhc enlure preservationof crirical habilat,a d maxinize lhc potenlial comprrutive sludy of habilal ure and m,rmnrali,rnconnnunir\ lbr succcsslulrcintrductioD. We proposeparallel srudiesof rhe struclure.because they have sutficienily high populirion sizcs t,) struclureand colnposilionofvegetation and nrammaliancommu- yield srarisricrlly nrclningful srmplcs. Snrall mammals will be nities associatedwith known capture sites of arbslin'1ir (Gbi lrapped using Shcrman livc r.!ps, rhen indifidually marked rnd NarionalFdcsl) and thc moit likely areatbr reintroduction(Sapo released.Two sanplings.ids ot l(vJto l50lrapseach sill be s.r NarionalPark). This inibrmalion will be usedlo suggeslr pntcc ln tcDdrys per monlh at eachsitei onc grid will bc sct in thc trees non and nranagernentplan fbf Lir.,ii.rir ard lhe $$cialed lloir md thcolhcron lhe grcund. H.!bit.rtusc and daily olenrcnrswill rnd launa io Gbi. ro gaugeif Sapo is a suitablesile fof rcleaseof be eslimatedfrcln localiliesof recaptur€and lluol$cenr lrucking. cuptile brcd animals.Ind to help locateorher potcntial sires lbr rrirrtru'lurriun. WL Jl- ' pr,,f!\. ri' \uNey Ihe!ererrc \JflJuon ril JohnCarnio, Curator of Mammals, Daluril populrti('ns ol thc Libelian monSooseand lo monitor Metropolitan'l'oronto Zoo, P. O. Rox 280, gf etic parnncrcrsof thc ca ive breedingcolony. This intbnrra, WestHill, OntarioMll.l 4R5,Canada tion will be used to develop d brccding slralcgy lo mlxinrizc gcnctic varialion in the captive colony and presc.vc lhc genelic

Coming events

''The 6th Intcmdtional Colloquium on the Ecology and Funhcr informalion can be oblainedIrom: Tlxono ry of Small Africdn Ma,nnuls , sponsoredby the Israel Academy of Sciencesand Hunanilics, will be held ar Mitzpe Mr. AbrahamHaiD Ramon.Israel. August Il-16, 1991. Universityof IInila Oranim P.O. Kiryit Orul and posrcrpresentations.$ well as offe|s to organize Tivon36910 sF,cial seclhns or discussionsrrc welcome. Israel.

l7

A preliminary survey of the two rare viverrids: Malabarcivet and Brown palm civetof the WesternGhats, India

'lhe moisl li'resrb.lt akug the WesrcmChats in soulh Surveyoflndia (Calicut) to examinethe skins ol rhe two spccjer. weslemlndix is vcry rich iD endenic llorr and faura, and of The actualsuryey will be carricd our in 1wo phrses,one ror erch pllr'licularinlcrcsl ro lhe M&vSG. No lcssthan three of the five ol thc rwo sludy areas:at Elayur (oear Calicur district ot Kemh lhrcntcnrdmustelid md livcrrid speciesin India occur in this stale) lion where the only rccent confirmed sighring ol the regrcn.An ecok)gicalsludy and surveyof th! WestemGhars Malabar cilet was reported.and nt Ananalai Wildlife Sancrurry cndenriclivenids wasslaled as a prioriryp()jecl ir rheAclion (near Cointbatoredistrict of Tamil N.rdu slrr!, w erc a Drown Phn fo. lhe CoDscrv{tionoi Mustelidsrnd Viverrids(IUCN, paln crver was recenrlysighted. 1989). While drc vegclalion at Anarnalai \Vildlife Sanctuaryis Dr. A. J I Johnsinghot thc Witdlitt lnstiruteof India' prnnarily a rninli)resrinlefspersed wirh moisr deciduouslbelt and organiseda Lhrccmonth field srudyol the Malabarcj\ct (Vi|cna g.asslands.th€ vegcl ion at Elayu. could possibly be degrxded .4./rt'a) andrhe Brown palri, ci\er (Pan.lo\uns .i?tdo i). The moist decjdrous forert with rr'bber or co!onut planratn)ns. survcyis caried oul by Dr. N. V. AshrafKunhuDu who s obiec ln c{ch study area rhc survey will begin by collecting infonnalion regardingsightings by local peopleand foresrdcpan- L Thc approximaredensitics of rherwo spericsin the two areas menl olTicials.Based on this info.mario|l. surveyswill bc n)ade wherelhey hrvc beenreponed recenrly. during night hours (on foor and by vehicle) using spotlighis tirr 2. Thcir habitatprefercnles. behavioralobsewations. Scars of the spottedidividuals will be jeasibiliry 3. lhe ofa long tern studyon the ecobgy of rhese collecbd for later analysis.An approximarcduration of 20 days r|ill be spenl in the licld al each surley arca.

'Zoologic{l The surley slarledwilh a \,isil lo the museumsof rhe This project is funded by the Society fbr thc BombayNatu.al History Society (Bombry) and the Zootogical Conservltion of Speciesand Populations, Miinchen, FRG.

On Arctictis gairilneri

In 1916Thomas described a new specicsof biniurong. collecledin Mengla.Yunnan, China in 1964and held in ihe Atditlis said .ri.frcm^ spclinencollecicd in SaiYoke, S. W. KunmingInslitute of Zoology.Kunming. Yunnan, China. Thailandby K. G. Cairdner.He did sosolely on the basis ota skult, 'so slalingil was conspicuouslylarger than any orher known thar As rheN. Burmaskull belongs ro A. lt. /1b,/rorr.a subspc it evidently represented a d isrinct spec ies . Thespec imen is in lhe cieswhich is notbasedonlarge skullsize but ofl pelage€haracrc.s, BM(NH).t-ondon as No. l5-12.1.26 and lhe Chineseskull belongsro yet anoihersubsp€cies. A. ,. nengla?Nis,it seemswe may agrccwith Kloss remarkon the Ih validity as a distinclspecics was doubtedalre{dy in large size variaiionin binturongskulls and rhat we atso can 1917 by Klosswho mentioned the large variation in characlerislics concludethar Pocockwas righl when he rnadeA. sai ui and silc which nre showncven by binrurongskulls from one synonymouswirh A. l)trruronehi tuto t. disrrict- Refer€nces "it l'ocock(1913) sh!red Klosiopini('n rhar wasmerely m GaoYioring?/d/. 191!1.Fduna Snit d l4anntutu. Vol.8: Carni exceprionallywell-developed old maleskull nor differingeven r0l2. sciencePress. Beijing. rrcially frcm rhebinturong of rheMalay Peninsula' and made il Kloss.C. B. 1917.On a third collectionot Siamesemanrmds. \)nonymouswith A. bnrlutoryhitunng. J. N.]l Htrt. So.. Slidl,2(4)i281t-318. Poco.k,R. L 1933.The rarergenera oforiental Viverridae. Up to l9l9 (Po{ock)ir waslhe biggesr skull of,1/.rnyir on Ptot:.Zool. So(.Londo 1933(4):9691035. rccord.while strdyinglhe Af./n1n skullsin the BM(NH)I cam€ ---.1939.The fauu of BtitishI dia. Mdmnxliu.Vol. L'laytof uponNo. 63.150:1,rhe skull ofan old binturongof unknownsex. nnd Francis,London. plrrchasedliorn J. Keenan.nnd collecledin the fbreslN. W. of Thornas,O. 1916.A new binrurongfrom Siam.A,r. Mds Ndt. Kanang.w. of Sumprbunr( 1.200-1.500 m ASL), N. Burma.hs Hist..11.2'7O2'7 L g.eateslskull lenglhis 160.0mm rnd rhccondylo basal lenglh is more(lun 157.4rnm (oneoccipital condyle is nlissingand rhe olherisdamaged). whilc lhe SaiYokc skull measures r€sp€ciivel) Harry Van Rompaey, l52.2rndl5l.6mnr. l'heN. Bu.nraskullis largerin {t and smaller Jan Verbertlei,15, 2520 Edegem, Belgium. iD 7 oi lhe 15'ne sureslaken.

Cao Y{orins.r d/. ( l9u7)gnve 159.2 mm asgrearesr skull lengrhtbr rlre holorypcof A h. nkntkkrsis. an adull ltmllc l8 Mustelidae l\lkfmm\. R. & cri.l. D 19 6. P).dltu,\ unndL it B.tt:irDtd,l n{ta:|llarodidxc)toniMunelntJeintlul!rrii.//rr,",rtrtu(1,(Brrrnl li I \ llrtir.,ldrk AttitrdlL,)Idttit(,ut^!\puit\ Srichrin!Kririsch t .un.b.hccr, Nrr CrmpalN B€\rhemrinpRmtuic.c.. (trvelrid& Grvere.6.lpp llr Drtr.h) Je{tilclcw:[a.81987 R.t)n urror]nqc cl:l/rnrld tirrlr\ l, I Ihdulomtr.JC & Auhen.M.F S. l9ltij(1987 ). A p(lF{)sdc: rll('d,r!.\ i, nr /rf ,tt :111:ll):l9.l.lt)t) rcfrnnvoR\sxrvr!\rnFran.ctMrlbnhrg! Trictul.cridr) r,1!t S'\. f t Ptht rrn tt)t 111 21ll IMar n\ lli ndi Jetlrejessri.B l98e vr'i.ror nr un\elr rc\F\c r) r.1,.!, , , F,Jcnrhrnlvrle\.enclo{tre.\p.rnn.dc/,rlrrrol'a).,r/ (; Betlcr.l. P 1983Dxuhenn)n\ brr Mf,rr.rrl.r/,,itr\ pr.) ol bc..h Nnci lt,rhl,tu rn\ubrcnmcdn pn\ a!r? ll( l):ltl 35(ttr t)ur.h wirtr Engtnh lohtrson.S. A l9ll.1/r,?r,r!., rrn r rnr\. ttJ hdhittir\ t i,i,, I ) llirrr rr M s rhd\i:.tl'r'r wA tst.!cnsPoid).78 t0 Bl{rn{elt L I9lt9 HNntdgrcll detennin(ioDol d'ltcr.nt lltrgcs.i Nlrlr dcvcLotDmlru.-grotrrh (ilmink Al2,.1!,ri .ir/rrl. })d |9t 99 JdrnsoD.WA. FullerTK.. AtribilllC!,(i.lirrll n.W. t. &.,]lrtr,i i K A. l9ltll.Scrkrul.hong.! i'r &riviry pdcnsol rhcPrhsonim hog !\rL.tur I BnEkhui/cr.S 1988l .rrfon turweenclmirotuu\ ir 'n[h rnd rh.if t( trtlrlr\ hrnthnlhi)irTotre\delPiiNN krulPa'k.ch le./{r ar 1 //,\, t,x .Dvtronnrenr.N.//r. /ld h^t Ndt Md,utr ;rrr. /i.? 1987.1i.16 6ltlr'2l712i

B'Nkhu'ftn-S. l,)88 Rcsc .honihcc.ology and{li\riburioDol rrres Kin!.C. l989.Ir.n,r,dll,rrn)t\.j ntu\(l\ u"l tru^ Chriirn.rttf rrr tirlnrrmmxl\tc.i.\ nrrhe Nelhcrland\ N.r, R.r I'^t N?t Mdnd!. A,tr R?l,

Koner.M. lq88 A nrdnctrlulknrg rttpry f.rr arrrllr l9881lr 76 llr Bro*n,MK l986.Slarusoidcpinenr.ncnnrNewYo.k.N)/ t,\lia;d,k,

Kruul. H 1989Th. tu]ul bdtl!.t l:t.,,(\ dnl h.hu\nrr .fr !|\r Chcrtrs.J.l9lt9 Wlldhop$lorscncmbrndi( rra Wirl/y'.?(t0):670 lnz! rd,n?,r Oxlird llnive6lry PEss,176 pp.

Lrnr8R.l.&llol.oyd.CL 1989Theirru\ofrhebtrct-toorcdrcrturnr DrSilvr.J&Macdon.ld,D w lr)S9.LinrirarioNrorhruseoiloonru.rcrnidd a?r(J/r.11(l):l2l-115. i\ r niern\ ol rgcing lurasid. badse6.M?/.r,r.rfr R{ Et.] tldrt rul Lc\in\ki. C. 1188.Bccch nad.is as I'edalfs oi bi$. 'f,lr\tr,nt

Drvrs.J V 1981.r^r.,/,zlnt(rintlnet.s /,d u,ttfl n1r,r u th. l:rt.ttu, hdrlt.t Ph.Dii $cd[ior, tjn]! Sus\e\(U.K).tt0pp Lnm.l & fri'[s.t.D.S.l9lt9 Mrk (Mrmmatia:C!mivor r: Nldnft ].r forecr'onof a u'dcly quoleJer$. Mdn,nrl R.\. 19(1):115119 Driing. 1 l. 1989.Prcr- s.lccln'n a.d foftgirre.h.futbnric\ or brn *.rrl\ /[rar,/, ,iizh ) i'r rhe ,namror] .4,2 Mi.// N/r , I l:(2 )::r9.1.101) Itlmhcsi.P & Memod.C. 1989Raeinralnn.ihrt{l( h nrfc L]t,rr, ,rr,.r L ) dan\fu Jurr lris\e (Mrmmd ir: Musrciid&) R/f ti^ r. z.1,1 96tt jt).1 l)dnr.trn.n.. Ribcs.C. soul,'um'ac.l .Chmotr & ( ni'ven..R.1989.!x- rnn,enlr \ltrrl! ol rlrc l.rrl ln)sth irr rhc LuroFnr bJdgerM./.J ,rflfr I_ Vrnnatu 5il2):)19 atl5 McKinfcr-,M. A 1931)t,t.thL r., nj d,nhdn iet\litnlthrI.\iL,nrtk Ph.D di\\cnrrir)n.\lirh srdcLrniv.. t1)1t0 Evxn\.P C.,1.. ]!lrdo.rld. D W & Chc.rnrtr. C L t98t) S.cirl nrurrure .l rh. EtrrNrn bxdgrr /,n./. ,rt.rr lrn.ric evidcnc.../ Z,t. M'le\.1 W. l98l.Irr /ir/ur Mrne\FnDanri /N,rzJ.,rt. Ir s h. r) \ rhe\n.A.lldil tlniv iciradr).l8 pp.

Iir!.^rnr. X. A. t9ll7.Srru:.1 rtr bt!ct lirorcdIcrcr rid rheellict\of Minrr.S C.& M sh.R. E 1988Brdge^ illu,/.d krrr, is o..r!rn'r ..nnr ilr(.Dp.ron $c lcf.lert noetunr.Prd \tunl.atAnu l.t Mtl A\u" ponJnrrncuhurc Ptnt trn.ht P.! Cnnj,11 l\)9 203

Nams.V.O1989 AlechniqucrodcrcnniD.rlrchchrvntrofrrJdi,, fuC!cJ Frrlpi. K l98lt SomeNoNegian ncwsprpris rlirudc rosdrdstrrgc xnim!|.(dn.l Zr.l.61t2t:)51 25t\.ti,t.t,ttlrs hr4)ht^) t)(dn!'^ Fdr,! todo) ,llrl):101 l0:l tln Nor$cEr.Dlirh EnSlishlumm0fr-l Nov*.\,l.Brler.JA..Olbxrd,M.E.&Mrllo.lr.B.(cl: )tlrl//n,brlj,, niLu!(nut anl tot\rtrdritrt u N.lh Arr.tua Mirri!!y ol Nm!rl R.\{r 1... Hrn'n.r. t) A & Ande6on.tl. A. t989. A re\t chrmbcrrJ evltulre .bcnrl.rLrlrtrr.lu[. ll,/// J,1 Bull \1\1):1111 tMtn(tu Lt!luuurt Pigo/ri. C 1988 TIr ,tier.i,ul avrilbrlir' rntl u\e oJ :prr. I Llr Hri.or. N1 lg89 Aldgcr conrryarionvr .rtrive bredrlcrs.! lnd Eumpcrnbafler ir rhcMrrenn Nduml P.tr|.Ccntul lhly Mtrl r I \l lntl trdslo.r!on:.r, 2,,N.rr16/:lill.l):16t8 22(.1):5.15(Abird orly)

lfolme\. I lr. l'r89 S.wd.?rr., t)hi\n'r' N.ah And it dr I tt\tt.\ | ithu Pogl.ydnNeuwrll.l.. Dur.nr. a. S.,Ssrn\en.Nl 1...WLll'x.$. R (.li th\1.)ttr,\rfiht MttulnLn Ph.D disscndion.L]ni!. Kxn\r\,l2l pp. Bancs.R. A. lq3'rDjtuusryclrofrhcrnytu.Endrltht'r Z..lttjl atlt ti 117 Htrnrphre!.s R & scr/er.lt w. t939 ccogmphr vmlrron md raxo, nonncrevnni( or ninklMrn././ \rn,tt in F|onntr.J Mu"mat.11\2t:71t-252 Randla.l. l986.Onanewoccurenc.ofwolv.nrenr E\lonir L,vrir/rlr/ 4:?778. (lr Rus\ixn*irh ,inali\hsuinndyl l rrvrcr.S ll 1985ttuhnat L:r. tu ^.nkr^, dntl t'q,uh1n\ t hutottt, rtu t.l r)hdr n'qdl t|ult M. S.rhcs(.Univ. Wis.lSrc\cis P{)ino.6{rpp Reumer.lW.li j'r3ltAu\eiulldiltcEncehorwc(irhcskull\,t rl'rBfr! | lM!v.// ,nzlnl rd rhc no0t tMunth mntdj aidnrun 5(l) r)r, r)i tl laD.hev.l. & Ccrov.T. 1988n,qrnr,rAl/ra /dr{ turt sp n lNcma.

lq

Ro\ntrc.Rc&Kelywrrd.P1988.A\trSlcalpiocedurclbrDplturin! Ayy.dur.,.Nt..Nararj{n.v,Bala:ubramani.r.p&Ata8rRxjdn.s.t987

?lt Wildlif€Srncruarr-. TamitNadu J.A.nharNa! Mt 5u..81\\):21l

scrl. u.. Tlhnr. T . Bognn.M. & AidcAon.S. (eds.) 19a9. C.nt.^ /n.n B. . O . Chabrud.A C. & cco+€s.A I t 987.Nouve|c fitaire du genrc

69.tNo tttu hntrukt) Sknmcr.P.Jrlf€rie\.D&Hrnis.S l9A9.hal:!.'rtn\ untnanttlt( lu\ Nlr nrls{{ierv.2:l m Blrsz[ie$irz.ts 1989.E8anzcnd€ Mireillrn8 zud t-ebensrhcrht nr Lafrcnioller(Pat!,rdldrurdlemmincr).4,"R, r5 t2t-t2J. Slcenrm.P l9ll9.!rzt, /,lr.n\?ls. ttl.\ na dntltnk natas. \Nhlrr.r, l28Pn. Bosnrm.CA &vdden Berg.A.ts. t988 ECyprianmonSoos., r/./,.r.r (r,.!n,, inso0rh€flTurkey. Z..l Mnldl. Lu! 1:5 1. Sp.nccr.W D lr)37 Serk)nrlEn sireprefcrcnc.\ortine mancns nr $c noflhfn siem Ncrdr '/ ll ildl M.nas . 5l \ll:616 611 De ibes.M.. Rodrigucz,A & pareno.F L t989.rood .f rheconnrn 'lhotrrpyn,. Ecncrtc.,.ru A.,.rd) in nonhcmAfricr ./ Zr ,218:.121lt6. I D. I'oner.M S. & walkcr. S. L 1987.A kc! b rlre dentifcalionol ninr lnalltDrealnrmmrlsolccDtal cnnr{lalrom gtard hrA. Disi, M. rglt? On a collcclon or mammatsirom Jordan.Dnrlz (iu l lrLl Ntt llt(11:614616. t,!\t2):\Jt tl6 tH.tp.ret ihkunul

wchLr. D lr)89.lhc ecoio8icalsipnifican.e of 'eiin8 qhcsrnd rhc l,hctrMur.M t989 D!\Onumctrhlbmu{€rh€ieinigennrrdrgassnlhef ra\otrrl hib rdrchrnge in polecats../.r,t. (London)217 629 618. vivetridcnund c1n vergtdich nir lesrhndi{hci venrebm B.rr.r 2ibt atib .10(2)r7984. wcbcr.D. l98r)ThedietolpolecitltMrJr.?,/rrr,irjl..)inSqnscriard. Z Sae.r.rk 51:t51.111. Cupr!_V & I.arnra.S. t987.On fourcrnrhoccphatan (si.) prrr\ire\ of vcncbrarcstiom tJlrr Pradeshand Tamj I Nrtu. ,zli.,i J //./,r h!]. 3917t:t)8 weher.D.1989.I;oagin8inNl..rc(Mrn./.?r&r?hL)ofswittet$t):142.ttttry&{aubtrnt!a!rs) Thecr\e ofr spccialistatrur.n prcl t.Z Siiuq.n.tk.51:117 192. llcanct.LR..Heidenan,P.D.Rickad.E A..Urzumn.R.B.&Ktornl€n. Wi,g-O 19,t9Craniomctic varifuon nr Norwe8ian wollcnms Crr, erb LSIl.l989.El€vrrbnalzonarionotmarhrhinrhecentratPhitippincsJI,4 L L\)l I Lnrl Su 951112lJ] Fol.5259280.

wol\ar.M 1988.Morlhobgicllvrriarionsotrh€fintumermol indr In,leckova.D. & T.may)va.K t988. Thc lirs ftcord of a fossator g.trusM/,7rsl(amlrora.Mr$cltdnei.MnnMus Ntil Hrt Nut Sl' C S.i T.Dr CzcchostdukiaZi'a.16(t):11-l,1.0iCrech)

Homsey,T 1989.Itc h..d re!.insot a surica le ncc.kar.,c/r./ t6(2):.18 Mustelidae& Viverridae 5l Anscll.w.F H 1989,fidrrdrrrabl9],t /984 TheTrendrincPicss, ltunr.R.M Jr t989.Evoturion ot rhcaelloid cxmivo.a:sianiiicance of S1 lve\.TTpp rhevenlnlpromomoflalpnxesrofthep€rrosal,andrhcofler.fhlsicmnialp.ncnN h rhelivlng familics. Ar?,.,tt^ N,yil q29t0):t 32. Crrpnnet),C M & Cemri.F. P. 1939.The manrmnhin rhczoDtogicrl culrureol thcMburi pt.anies in nonh-a(ernZairc //_rrir (n s.)l:183. Maddc*.A.H.t9tt9AnaesrhesiaoffourVivcridaewnhkerlmine.SA. ./ willl R.r,l9:8lr84. cnwlord cabnl,I 1987(198q).Disrlburionrldaraandnoresonngotan c{anvor.s( Mrmmalia: Camivom). Guk in deAia, Sit zo.1 , | 117):121 Paxh. M.1988.For.8 ing .s€ i rtnJnsbetween patechanringeosha*ks. honctbid8eA lnd nendermong6es. AABARtcnrrh Biol.AJr RdpknnT\2):a') Ddthe-HH.&Schops,P (cds.)P.lr(,2/dr vEa cuinv Fn.herVertrg. 84.

Rrna. l. l'r37 SomeEpnxlucrive paranrereG in rhe Aret nonloor D.lxiy.M J 1989.fhc z@8co!fuphyolrhe nramnraltatrna ofsotrrlr.n (t.4,.rdr ./r di./siGeorfroy r8l9) of Pakisran.P. k J Znl , 1gt4):41446. Arabir.M/r,r//Rf 1 . l9(4):13:l 152. Radcr.J. J.. Kel.he. C. & vosel,E 1989.Flank rubbing in geners (6?,.rd l-egendF.S. & Roth,C. 1988C.rei!tion oicamassialhrh sizelnd lt y B.,.dd L.)j Hisrotogicalcorelarcs. Z. tir{.ri.,t.54(5)i32.r 128. *eighl in rcccnr.arnivotu\ (Mammalia). //d arl l:8598. Taylor.P. J. & Mee{er, r. A. J. 1989.'lhe typc lsaliry df C.rrrtn Rochrs.M , Ebinger.P. & Wcidcnann.w 1989.Cephalization in\i\ct F nitiltda iDnhs,r Robcns,I929 dd c.,ril/!r,,r.rd..anby Robens,l9?9.2 ndre. rryftrd'drc.Pctoni.tae, lrd Utsidac.z zo.t S$t Ewtutiorsfo5.h, sr,lai.rt, 5,1(5):129.310.

Thohari.M & Sdosa, Y I 98,1.A pElinin!ry nudyon rhente df civcr schrih.r. '|989.Myslerions|nU'chds.ver}myneri!u!lileridsBBCiPl|dll.|,,ush0n[ { ,Urtl. 71l ll:8 16 8ll lnd P :arddr arcunun! cede Pan8nn8oNarional Pa.k. wcn Javl Anrr.?. Spdr P!r/ z li l5l l5l. shcn8.c.,Ytu'jiu\uo. K & D\ixrc. z. t983.Bitds dnrl h.ais .t Hdnlan h/drrl s.icncePres. Beijins.45spp Trivcdi. K K. 1937 Nemarcneparasires oI rencbrars.9 On x ner nefut e. Plrr.rrrrlf/r nrnld,.ii sp.no!. isrrongylidaeProro(bngrtid&) Strnru. J W.. Shddn(l..l. ll..wu.C-J.&Baer.G M 1988 Oral torn mong('se,H.ry.st.s latuJintn\ ftomudriur. Rajanhan-lndia. fn. p.r dJ. nnnnun,n ol an luenuar.dshh olcrnine ldenovirus0yIE 2)b rn.oo.s. rt /,18(2):2012t.1. loxcs.slunls. r.dnungoors. Antd J I d Rts 19Q):169111 wellr. D. R. l9nq N.les on thedislribution md taxommyol pcnnFuht MllaysiannroDsoo€s (He.pesre sJ. Nat. t r^! BLt stdhtsot . llt tJ:ul e1 viverridae ,\.hxrjro. t- N & P.rlnrik.S. K. 1987(19881ocluEnce oflarse Indi!n crv.r/1r.,,?:i/'llrdlinOris\a.JS.DrrdNdr /tnl S,r.8.l(l):418,121.

Ansell.w.Ii I I l9lt9. M.n$ds f.on, Mrhwi: Pin 2.,\ju /.r I l( l/2):.1I 65.

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RolandWirth Franz-Senn_Strasse,| 4 8000 Miinchen 70 FRG

All othersubscribers please send, if possible,a Eurocheque for 600Belgian francs (no banking costs tleducted!).On other cheques or whenin foreigncurrency, please arld 30% to colercurrency convertrng and bankingcosts and sendto:

Hary Van Rompaey JanVerbertlei, 15 2520Edegem Belgium

The aim of the Newsletteris to promotecommunication between all interestedin mustelidand viverrid conservationand to stimurateconservation rerated activities for the speciesinvorved. In order to do so we shouldbe financiallyindependent. Any assistancein the form of donations,sponsorship, and subscriptionsis mostwelcome.