Svrnn CanNrvonn CoNSERVATToN The Newsletterand Journalof the IUCIVSSC Mustelid,Viverrid & ProcyonidSpecialist Group IUCN Number25 October2001 SPEcrEsSunvrver- CoMMISSIoN Nilgirimaften (/vlortes g'rotknsi) - Aftwork Jetr Cain Theproduction and distribulion of thisissue has been sponsored by "MarwellPreservation Trust Ltd", Colden Common, UK "RoyalZoological Society of Antwerp",Antwerp, Belgium "CarnivoreConservation & ResearchTrust", Knoxville, TN, USA "ColumbusZoo", Powell, Ohio, USA and "WildlifeConservation Society/Central Park Wildlife Center", NewYork, NY, USA ...l.hii! |tr{n. efuo lon tl. ht d.ri Svtnn CnnNrvoRE CoNSERVATToN TheNewsletter and Journal of theIUCN/SSC Mustelid,Viverid & ProcyonidSpecialist Group Editor-in-chief: HarryVan Rompaey, Edegem, Belgium Associateeditor: Huw Griffiths,Hull, UnitedKingdorr.r Editorial board: AngelaGlafston, Rotterdam, Netherlands MichaelRiff'el. Heidelberg, Germany ArndSchreiber. Heidelberg, Germany RolandWirth, Miinchen, Germany The viess expressedin fiis publicationare lhoseol the ruthors and do not ncccssrdly rcilccl lhose of thc lL-rCN.nor thc IIjCN/SSCMustelid. Vilerrid & ProcyonidSpecialisi cmup. The arln ofthis publicaiion is to oller rh. menbcrs ol rhc IUCN/SSC NIV&PSC. rnd rlnNc $ho are corcernedwlth musl€lids.\'i!en s. and proc)onids. briel pxpcr!. nes! itenrs.abslrrcts. lrnd lirle! of r.cenr lnerxtue. Al1 readersarc invited Io send nraterial to: Small Carnivore Conservation c/o Dr. H, Van Rompaey Jan Verbertlei,15 2650Edegem - Belgium Harry.VanRompaey@ tijd.com Print.d on recr-cledfrl'er ISS\ t0t9-5041 Certain observationson the behaviour of Nilgiri m afien (Martesguatkinsi\ in Periyar Tiger Reserve,Kerala, India DeepakumarN. KURUPand Gigi K. JOSEPH The loresredlracts of rhesoulh Wesrem Gha6 in .ivcrs nlnrcly Mullayar, Pcriy{r. and Pamba. Thc tcnain is thc Indianstrbconlincnt rcmain rn rbodc li)r n n] endangercd undulatingwith lofty pedksand pfecipitiousslopes. The elevatior andendemic life fbrms.Even though a numberofstudles has been rrngc\ liom 100 m 1('2.019 n] abolc mcan ser le\'el.Thc climatc coDdtrctcdlo lsscssthc bi()divcrsityoi this regi()n.not mu.h i\ hunid and cool and the tenpenture variesbetween l5'C and doctrmcDratir)nof smallcr m{mmals has heendone $ tar. ll'C. These fbrestsreceive an avefageannual rainfall of 2.500 Particularl).the mustelidsand liverids rrc rmong thc lcast knownmanxnals thriling in rhesenountain.anges (Yogmand & Kumir. 1995;Clhristopher & Jayson,19961. Pcrilrr TiScr Rcserve is considcrcd to bc onc ol thc biolosically richest protectedareas of the western Ghats with Thc Nilgiri marLcn,M.r/r€r g}irttin'i. HoNield 1851.i! a 1.965 flowering planr species (Sasidharan, 1999). This fich tlneatenedmustelid. distributed exclusilely wirhin rhe sourh diveisity is due to the complex topogriphy nnd wide range of westemGhats of lndia (Pocock.I9,1IL Although nlan]- previous nicroclimalic and soil condilbns. which in lum resuhs in rhe authorshave attempied todescribe the range of disrribution of this tbnnarionol r mosaicol dillcrcnl vcgctrtion types.According lo species.direcr sighting reports are still scant) (Huttor. t9.l9i Chandrasekharan(1962) and Champion & Seth (1968). the Pfater.l9lJ0: Jerdon. 1984). Karanth (198'l)reported rhe preseme vegetationof Periyar Tiger Resene can be classifledinlo seven of Nilgiri marrenin Bnhnagiri Wildlile Sancturryin Kamatak.r. typcsr wcsl coas! Lropical evergreen li)rcsts. wc( co:rst scmi Morerecend' direct sighting reporls have come liom Eravjkulam evergrccnlbrcsts. vrulhcm moistmircd dcciduous forests, soulbem Nrti{)nalPark in Kctuh (Nfudusudrn.1995). rhe rpper Bhalrni hill toptropic,rlevergreen forests, southem montane wet temperate rcgn)noi thc Nilgirisin Trmil Nadu(Goktrla & Rrma.handran, f(trests.south Indian subnopic,rl hill sav{nnrhs. and southern 1995).Pcpt{n Wildlif€Srncturry rnd SilentV{lley Natbnal west montanegrlsslands. Parko1 Kcrula SLrtc (Chrinophcr & Jry$n. 1996).Thc prcscnt rotc is bascdon a dircclsighting ollhc Nilgirimartcnior thc fi*t o| |1\,frr.h )n(1').$hr'. n(n'h.r.,,fth.r:gcrr.'nir,,rin" time in PerilarTiger Reserve. te,un proceededthrough the sen evefgfeer patche!of Aruvi in PcfiyarTiger Relerve.a coupleofNilgiri nlarLcnwcrc sighlcd.Thc l'eriyarTi:er ReseNeis situaiedin the ldukki districtof aninlalswere obsened lbr 15 n Nies from 10:20to 10:15a.m. at KemlaState. 1he total exten! of lhe Reservei,i 777 knrr. encio!ing a distanceofjust dre€ rnetresawa). They werc iderilifiedwithout a centrallyplaced lake of 26 kmr. lt is bourrdedby Madumiand nistake by their striking black colour throu-lhout the body except R{mrnadhaturamdistricts of Tanril Nadustate to rheeast and in the thro,rtand chestregion. The lxtter regn)nwrs 'narkedwilh a north.Kou.tyrm district ol Kcrrh in thc wcst.rnd RanniForcst light orangcyclk)w cort. Thc hcad wrs trimgular and dorsally Di\ision nr thesouth (Fig I ). Thearca is dfainedmainly by three flatled. Totai bodl lengthircludirg tail excsdcd I m. LocationMap of Perilar Tiger Rcserve --.;l'r-| -*r/' .- ^i ; t;t" I w er ln ie\ Table1:Sighting records ofNilgid Marten in PeriyarTiger ReseNe on thcir wry lionl Vellrmala. sas tour Daleof siohtil Nameolthe Nilgiri nra(ens ch.rsinga Mouse decr sl N1l!9'91 Typeot \Trdsulus m(mbtn) down towafds the ro..tionvegetationobserver/ NO Day lllonli Yeat team Vcllimrh Rilo (Tible l). They encircled Umfi*hu their qurnt fiom lhe shoresbut the mouse L ,gSZ I Eve€reenMr Mohanan 00an dccr renained inrnreFed ir the wrter for Pa.hakk Mr.0.P. Kaler some tme. Claw sounds wcrc trcscnt on 2 Unknown March 1999 Eveereen ,,-r-_+- ,3!9L IFS rhe nipe. fofehead.:rnd dorsal side of the Tigef nr)usc dccr's bod)-. Perhapsbecause they Semi 3 13 March 2000 monrtoring sensedhumao presence.the lnalten left off eveQteen Team their quarr] rDd scunied away. Ore of lhc Tiger rnimrls slid under a fallen C,/le,n? Nad!thot .rdrilldnr lree lbr sonretinre. in the nrean 4 13 2000 Everurcenrnononng EM Team time the mouse deer hrd escrfcd. Mr Tigetcensus Madhukunar :rttemptedphotographing the 5. 16 Deember 2000 Thama€Evergreen Team lnaltenwith an ruto lbcuscanera.Hecould approachas closc rs four merresfrom ihc lhble |. Sishfits trcotds oJNilsiriMu o in P?ri,\1rTig.r R.s.^'c marter clirnbing down a r.cc. Thc arca hNd an altitude of 1.200m ASL and wrs of lnitially one animalsas sightedon a hcc trunk rl lhc righl clcrgrccn biotope wirh lhe domiratirg nee speciesof Calleda sideofthe roadand wrs found alsrys bobbins ils head.When the ?\atillata. Drrpetes elutu. and Lupottid.rcnulatd. aormalnoticed our presenceil starcdNt us li)r.t sccondrnd came dosn to the grornd. lt appearedunconcerned by ou| prcsencebu1 Theseobscr!.rlions clc.rrly show lhrt PefiyarTigerReleNe proceeded in a leisurely nanner along lhe ground. climbcd is a potcntial arcr for rny little describedmammals like Nilgiri lnothcr big trcc to lt height of 2 ln. stopped.turned its head and marten. This stecies was prcliously describedonly lrom slarcd!Lus. Allerlt minute.itdescendedto the ground and crosi'ed F-ravikulam Natnnr{l Pa.k. Silenl Valley National Park. and the rcrd slowly. Then it we t on to clinb a vnsller trce. rurned Pepparawildlile Srncturry of thc 14 proFcted areasin Kerala towards.t snnll branch and startedlying down on the prcximal State( M rdu$rdr, I 995i Chrisropher& Jayson.| 996). Thoughthe forlion. The nnimal was observedlyirg flat on it! belly with all Nilgiri mancn is an elusile creature. it would seem that the its four limbs drglnrg licc in the air. While we were obsening this speciesis not as mre as it wai oncc thotrght,as beiog nunifesi in animal,rnothcr indjvidual alsodeInonstrated a peculidrbehaviour the recentsightings. Thcrc is .r possibility of sightingthis lpecies ofbobhing irs herd up lnd down. Subsequelly ir cameIo the open in other sanctuafies having similar hrbitals. Therelbre n is a.erand sniffedth. soil li)r a whi lc. It thencrossed rhe road slowly essentialto conduct a detriled survcy lbcusing nainly on the rna . lrmheJrhe 'dm" .,,rif r,\ rl-r ^rhe .rldrrcnqr' re.ri1! n r. nammalian diversity petaining k) lhis pafl oi the world. 'Ih. sccondlnimrl look resl o rhe samebranch fbr five ,ninntes nr lhe same iashion describedfof lhe other one. After fiftccn Acknosledgements nrinute! ol obscNation we lett the inimals there and proceeded lve souldlile roth{nl Vr Bullumar.11.Madhukunr. Nt Amar. lunher on our monthlv exefcrse. NIr NlohrDxtr.Vr Chelhppin.udMrGipr. rhe mcnrh.(.lthc ligcr Monnorin!Tenm. Mr. MohrDrn, onc ol our tiger nonitoring te:rn members rsscrtcdhrving sccn a similir specine| ofthe marien about nine Chanrpion.ll.C.&Serh.SK l9Oi A,.f,rl/r,,f$,//r1k,(r tura ol ltrliu Nes Dehli:Govc'nicm .t lndi.. )ears ago at the Unrmikkuppan area in the corc zonc ol lhc l96) F.re{rr_tc\rlKeralaStar. r/irr r,., 83:6(18J7. feserve. whi.h is cxcltrsilcly an evergreen arei. The locala Chandnrkharan.C Chrnn)ther.G&Ja)_!ri.E A. 1996Sightinesoi\ilgirlrn{nen(tt r.\3lr,*r i Nlarnan tfibal! cali this annnal Enungu' in rheir lrnguage. Ho6liel{l)il PepnafuWildl,1. Sai.tDdt andSilenl Valley Nrtionrl Ptrl(, Kcrxlx.lndia..l,ull anr,fo,? a,,rcr. li::l .1. On l3th Ma-r 2000,the tiger monitding tcrm on thcir \isir Cokul!.V &Rxnuchrndri..N K.1996 Arcco of lhe\ilgni ndcn (tt.,..r ro the core area of Periyar Tiger ReleNe. passedby- Mlappua gmrli,liHosh.ldl nr uppr tsharaniJ U.ddrIt, tJrr '',, 9l:82 Hutrn. A F 19.19Sd*.s xid mxnDdsolrhe High\\xrr_ \li)untiis. Madura Pcriyr trck path ind a little distanceffom the abandonedcoffcc District.souh tndii 1B.,Dnr^r t/,v J.....1S:681-69.1 cirdamon estaieof Nadulhottamsru a Nilgiri martcn silling on .edlrr.T C 193.1.1rdrD,,L.fth! nu'nnrL.l lvlh Dehi: MntrlPubi (:ullci'td r lnllen e\dnillata ree and tyirg to probe into the Krra.th. K. L 1931.Cdf.drr.n !1 rf.ttlt. t.nn,nr&qrt r".1n\ runlattt deca)ing log for possiblegrubs. On se€inglhe tean the annnal huhtdt h Ka dldko. Bnnlnlue: Detr of lrcologl and Lnrironnent. jtrmpcd olflhe 1ogand ran down the ravine below.