Recent records and distribution of the Indian Brown Mongoose Herpestes fuscus Gray, 1837 (Mammalia: Carnivora: Herpestidae) from the southern Western Ghats, India

Abstract

We are reporting four new records of Brown Mongoose Herpestes fuscus Gray, 1837 from four protected areas in Western Ghats including Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary, Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary, Periyar Tiger Reserve and Pampadum Shola National Park and one new site record outside a protected area from Pambanar Tea plantation in Idukki dt. situated in Kerala part of southern Western Ghats. An updated distribution map of Brown Mongoose in Western Ghats is presented here.

Observations of Brown Mongoose Herpestes fuscus (Mammalia: Carnivora: Herpestidae) in the wet evergreen forests of the Western Ghats, India

“…Detailed observations about the natural history and ecology of this species are lacking. Brown Mongoose is thought to be mostly crepuscular; it is often photographed by camera-traps between dusk (18.00h) and dawn (06.00h) from different parts of the Western Ghats (Sreehari et al 2013;Jathanna 2014;Sreehari et al 2016;Nikhil 2017).…”

“…southern Western Ghats of India up to elevations 450-2,000 m (Sreehari et al 2016). The habitat where the Brown Mongoose has been observed range from human habitations near forests; coffee and tea plantations; wet evergreen forests and upper montane evergreen forests (Mudappa & Jathanna 2015;Sreehari et al 2016).…”