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Ruddy Mongoose Herpestes Smithii: a New Species for Nepal

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Ruddy Mongoose Herpestes Smithii: a New Species for Nepal Ruddy Mongoose Herpestes smithii: a new species for Nepal Samundra A. SUBBA1*, Sabita MALLA1, Maheshwor DHAKAL2, Barna Bahadur THAPA3, Lal Bahadur BHANDARI3, Kanchan OJHA4, Pankaj BAJRACHARYA1 and Ghana GURUNG1 Abstract Ruddy Mongoose Herpestes smithii recorded in only one of 96 camera-trap stations. This suggests its low density and/or localised distribution but also hints that it might occur in other parts of the Banke–Bardia–Katerniaghat–Suhelwawas recorded for the first time in Nepal, complex. at Banke The Nationalnewly established Park in January Banke NP2014. harbours It was some threatened and charismatic species within diverse ecosystems. It now has the role to preserve this species new to Nepal as well. Keywords: Balapur, Banke National Park, camera-trapping, extension of known range, habitat, locality record Three species of mongoose are well known to occur in Nepal, all also inhabiting India: Small Indian Mongoose Herpestes (ja- vanicus) auropunctatus, Indian Grey Mongoose H. edwardsii and Crab-eating Mongoose H. urva (Baral & Shah 2008, Thapa 2014). Ruddy Mongoose H. smithii is known from Sri Lanka and peninsular India, in the forests of the Western and Eastern Ghats north to Bihar and to the open thorn forests of Rajas- than (Pocock 1941, Dookia 2013, Mudappa 2013). This note A Ruddy Mongoose was photographed by Bushnell In- fraredrecords camera-trap the first record (Trophy of Ruddy Cam Mongoose HD) within from Banke Nepal. National Park (Banke NP) on 11 January 2014 at 14h38 (temperature 13° C). The camera-trap station was at Changi, near Lutepa- ni (28°10′42.00″N, 81°49′13.75″ through mixed deciduous forest with open scrub forest to the south (Figs 1–3). The station lay E;at 235the basem) in of a the fire-line Chure trail hill Fig. 2. Herpestes smithii range, approximately 4.7 km from the nearest village (Bal- Ruddy Mongoose camera-trap photograph apur). The location and altitude were recorded by a hand-held from Banke National Park, Nepal, on 11 January 2014. GPS unit (WGS 84 datum). Morphologically, Ruddy Mongoose resembles Indian Grey Mongoose closely but is distinguished by its distinct black tail-tip of 2–3 inches, darker feet and slightly larger size (Prater 1971). The black tail tip is readily visible in the camera-trap photographs. The record came from research into the population dy- namics of Tiger Panthera tigris and its prey in the recently (2010) gazetted Banke NP (550 km²), a joint operation by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (Gov- ernment of Nepal [GoN]), Department of Forests (GoN) and survey. Banke NP contains Chure (Sivalik) hill ranges to the northWWF Nepal,and bhabhar directly forests involving to the the south, local communitiesintersected by in inter field- mittent rivers with two, the Thuria and Khairi khola, meeting the main river, the Rapti, to the south. A 2 × 2 km grid across the park deployed 96 camera-trap stations for a 57-day pe- riod, all placed on trails commonly used by Tigers for move- ment. No baits or lures were used. This locality record of Ruddy Mongoose in Banke NP lies approximately 27.75 km from the Indian border at Rupaidiya (Uttar Pradesh). It is the northernmost record in the world, the most northerly traced by Dookia (2013) being from Sariska NP, Rajasthan, north-west India, at about 27°30′N. The nearest Fig. 1. Location of Ruddy Mongoose Herpestes smithii camera-trap previous Ruddy Mongoose record to Banke NP appears to be record in the western Terai Arc Landscape, Banke National Park, Banke that from Bihar at about 24°N (Dookia 2013). The Banke NP district, Nepal, on 11 January 2014. record suggests that Ruddy Mongoose might also occur in oth- Small Carnivore Conservation, Vol. 51: 88–89, December 2014 88 Ruddy Mongoose in Nepal Fig. 3. Overview of Banke National Park, Nepal (left), and a fire-line trail through mixed deciduous forest in the park similar to where the Ruddy Mongoose was camera-trapped (right). er parts of the Banke–Bardia–Katerniaghat–Suhelwa complex. References However, the species was camera-trapped in only one station Baral, H. S. & Shah, K. B. 2008. Wild mammals of Nepal. Himalayan of 96, suggesting that its distribution in this area is localised Nature, Kathmandu, Nepal. and/or its density is very low. Dhakal, M., Karki (Thapa), M., Jnawali, S. R., Subedi, N., Pradhan, N. Ruddy Mongoose is said to be reclusive in contrast to In- M. B., Malla, S., Lamichhane, B. R., Pokheral, C. P., Thapa, G. J., dian Grey and Small Indian Mongooses, usually using more se- Oglethorpe, J., Subba, S. A., Bajracharya, P. R. & Yadav, H. 2014. cluded dry open scrub forests (Prater 1971). Recent records of Status of Tigers and prey in Nepal. Department of National Parks Ruddy Mongoose in two parts of India with few or no previous and Wildlife Conservation, Kathmandu, Nepal. records came from scrub and dry thorny forests (Dookia 2013, Dookia, S. 2013. Recent sightings of Ruddy Mongoose Herpestes smith- Sreehari et al. 2013). The Banke NP Ruddy Mongoose record ii in Eserna hill range, Jalore, Rajasthan, India: northwest exten- was also in a dry region. Furthermore, the record comes from sion of its known range. Small Carnivore Conservation 49: 25–27. the periphery of the park’s central zone: the sector least dis- Mudappa, D. 2013. Herpestids, viverrids and mustelids. Pp. 471–498 turbed by people, with healthy forests of dense canopy and in Johnsingh, A. J. T & Manjrekar, N. (eds) Mammals of South Asia, profuse ground vegetation with higher prey and predator 1. Universities Press, Hyderabad, India. density (Dhakal et al. 2014). Banke NP also holds the local- Pocock, R. I. 1941. The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Bur- ised Four-horned Antelope Tetracerus quadricornis. Four Ti- ma. Mammalia, 2nd edn, 2. Taylor & Francis, London, U.K. ger individuals have been recorded so far (Dhakal et al. 2014). Prater, S. H. 1971. The book of Indian animals, 3rd edn. Bombay Natu- ral History Society and Oxford University Press, Mumbai, India national park and the prey and predator density slowly recov- (as updated 1993). ering,With the the forest promise patches the park of Banke has for district small finally carnivores turning is ainto bet a- Sreehari, R., Fredy, C. T., Anand, R., Aneesh, C. R. & Nameer, P. O. 2013. Recent records of Ruddy Mongoose Herpestes smithii and Brown provides an opportunity to monitor these little-known small Mongoose H. fuscus from Kerala, southern Western Ghats, India. carnivorester one. Regular too. monitoring of high-profile species like Tiger Small Carnivore Conservation 49: 34–36. Thapa, S. 2014. A checklist of mammals of Nepal. Journal of Threat- Acknowledgements ened Taxa 6: 6061–6072. We sincerely express our gratitude to Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation for granting permission and their part in 1World Wildlife Fund Nepal, P.O. Box 7660, Baluwatar, Kathmandu, Nepal. Mr Birendra Kandel of Banke NP for facilitating and coordinating the *Email: [email protected] research.the study. WeWe wouldare also also very like grateful to thank to WWFAssistant UK and Conservation WWF Canada Officer for 2Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, P.O. Box 860, Babarmahal, Kathmandu, and Divya Mudappa for identifying the species. Finally we thank our Nepal. financial support for the study. We heartily thank Kashmira Kakati 3Banke National Park, Obary, Banke, Nepal. go to the local Community Forest Conservation Committees, User 4Terai Arc Landscape, Regional Forest Office, Far-western Groupsfield staff and Mr Community Tilak Dhakal Based and Anti-PoachingMr Pradeep Khanal. Unit members Special thanksfor all Region, Dhangadhi, Nepal. the field work and their undying commitment to conservation. 89 Small Carnivore Conservation, Vol. 51, December 2014.
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