Behavioural variation in the Mysore slender loris Loris lydekkerianus lydekkerianus

The Mysore slender loris, Loris lydekkerianus lydekkerianus is a nocturnal strepsirrhine primate endemic to India. As with other lorisine species, there have been few studies on this taxon and much still remains unknown about it. During a 21-month study on a Mysore slender loris population in Tamil Nadu, southern India, we collected data on the ecology and behaviour of 32 identified individuals. Certain aspects of diet and social behaviour of lorises in this population vary from what is already known for the Mysore slender loris in another part of southern India, offering a new perspective into behavioural variations in this taxon. Evidence for behavioural variation in the Mysore slender loris is significant for two reasons – one, there are few instances of clearly documented intraspecific variation in wild nocturnal primate species and two, this flexibility, it would appear, allows the Mysore slender loris to inhabit and survive in degraded and disturbed habitats across southern India, an adaptability that is thus critically linked to its conservation status

Small Carnivores of Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve, Karnataka, India

During the present study in Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve (BRT), nine species of small carnivores viz., Jungle Cat Felis chaus, Rusty-spotted Cat Prionalilurus rubiginosus, Leopard Cat Prionailurus bengalensis, Small Indian Civet Viverricula indica, Asian Palm Civet Paradoxurus hermaphroditus, Striped-necked Mongoose Herpestes vitticollis, Ruddy Mongoose Herpestes smithii, Common Mongoose Herpestes edwardsii and Smooth-coated Otter Lutrogale perspicillata, were recorded using camera-trapping technique, transect walks, and night surveys. Vegetation type strongly influences the presence and abundance of each species. The most sightings of small carnivores occurred in dry deciduous forests. Among all the species, the Asian Palm Civet was the most abundant and was followed by the small Indian Civet. Compared to many other forests or regions in India, the sight records of the Rusty-spotted Cat were relatively higher in BRT. Although we were unable to use statistical methods to search for higher levels of interdependencies between forest types and small carnivore abundance, our study sheds light on patterns of small carnivore distribution in this unique habitat which bridges the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats

Decline of suitable habitats and conservation of the endangered lion-tailed macaque: land-cover change at a proposed protected area in Sirsi– Honnavara, Western Ghats, India

Habitat fragmentation, loss of habitat and other anthropogenic activities have caused a population decline in many species, caused restriction in their distribution or even led to their local extinction. We attempted to understand the impact of such pressures on the newly identified and possibly the largest population of the endangered lion-tailed macaque, Macaca silenus in the Reserve Forests of Sirsi and Honnavara, Karnataka, using a temporal series of satellite images. Classified images showed a major increase in open area with a rapid decline in vegetation cover of about 11.5% in the wet evergreen forests over the last decade, amounting to a loss at the rate of 1.9% per year. We thus consider habitat protection and restoration of evergreen forest as the top priority along with the enforcement of conservation steps, including legal action against encroachment, extraction of timber and further fragmentation, to protect this critically important habitat of the lion-tailed macaque

Distribution Patterns of Slender Loris Subspecies (Loris lydekkerianus) in Kerala, Southern India

Gray slender lorises (Loris lydekkerianus) are 1 of 2 nocturnal primate genera occurring in India. Although the distribution and abundance of the species is known for some parts of southern India, the relative distribution of the 2 subspecies, Loris lydekkerianus lydekkerianus and L. l. malabaricus, and their comparative densities and extent of overlap between their distributions remains largely unknown. We investigated the distribution pattern and relative density of slender lorises in the Western Ghats mountain range in the state of Kerala in southern India. We surveyed 36 forest ranges in 17 forest divisions of northern and central Kerala from February to November 2009 for the presence of lorises. We sighted slender lorises in 22 forest ranges in a variety of vegetation types, and the relative abundance of the species ranged from 0.02 to 1.44 lorises/km. Our results confirm that both loris subspecies are present in Kerala: Mysore slender lorises have a narrow patchy distribution on the eastern edges of the Western Ghats mountain range, and Malabar slender lorises have a fairly contiguous distribution on the western slopes of the Western Ghats. We recommend more detailed surveys in southern Kerala to identify the distribution patterns of the subspecies in these areas

Distribution of the Grey Slender Loris (Loris lyddekerianus Cabrera, 1908) in Tamil Nadu, Southern India

The grey slender loris Loris lydekkerianus, one of only two nocturnal primates of India, is found in the southern part of the country. Our understanding of its geographical distribution is largely based on historical records and short surveys, and little is known of its occurrence in southern India today. We sought to establish the relative abundance of this species in 26 districts in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Pondicherry in southern India. We sighted lorises in 19 districts, and their relative abundance ranged from 0.01 to 2.21/km. The south-central districts of Tamil Nadu showed the highest densities of lorises, while the western districts showed the lowest. Based on these results, we recommend increased protection measures for the forest patches of the Eastern Ghats mountains in order to ensure the long-term survival of the grey slender loris

Distribution, Demography, and Conservation of Lion-tailed Macaques (Macaca silenus) in the Anamalai Hills Landscape, Western Ghats, India

The status of the endemic and endangered lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus) has not been properly assessed in several regions of the Western Ghats of southern India. We conducted a study in Parambikulam Forest Reserve in the state of Kerala to determine the distribution, demography, and status of lion-tailed macaques. We laid 5km2 grid cells on the map of the study area (644km2) and made four replicated walks in each grid cell using GPS. We gathered data on lion-tailed macaque group locations, demography, and site covariates including trail length, duration of walk, proportion of evergreen forest, height of tallest trees, and human disturbance index. We also performed occupancy modeling using PRESENCE ver. 3.0. We estimated a minimum of 17 groups of macaques in these hills. Low detection and occupancy probabilities indicated a low density of lion-tailed macaques in the study area. Height of the tallest trees correlated positively whereas human disturbance and proportion of evergreen forest correlated negatively with occupancy in grid cells. We also used data from earlier studies carried out in the surrounding Anamalai Tiger Reserve and Nelliyampathy Hills to discuss the conservation status in the large Anamalai Hills Landscape. This landscape harbors an estimated population of 1108 individuals of lion-tailed macaques, which is about one third of the entire estimated wild population of this species. A conservation plan for this landscape could be used as a model for conservation in other regions of the Western Ghats

Responses of birds and mammals to long-established wind farms in India

Wind turbines have been recognised as an alternative and clean-energy source with a low environmental impact. The selection of sites for wind-farm often creates serious conservation concerns on biodiversity. Wind turbines have become a serious threat to migratory birds as they collide with the turbine blades in some regions across the globe, while the impact on terrestrial mammals is relatively less explored. In this context, we assessed the responses of birds and mammals to the wind turbines in central Karnataka, India from January 2016 to May 2018 using carcass searches to quantify animal collisions (i.e., birds and bats), fxed radius point count for bird population parameters, and an occupancy framework for assessing the factor that determines the spatial occurrence of terrestrial mammals. The mean annual animal fatality rate per wind turbine was 0.26/year. Species richness, abundance, and unique species of birds were relatively higher in control sites over wind turbine sites. Species and functional compositions of birds in control sites were diferent from wind turbine sites, explaining the varied patterns of bird assemblages of diferent feeding guilds. Blackbuck, Chinkara, Golden Jackal, and Jungle Cat were less likely to occupy sites with a high number of wind turbines. The study indicates that certain bird and mammal species avoided wind turbine-dominated sites, afecting their distribution pattern. This is of concern to the management of the forested areas with wind turbines. We raised conservation issues and mitigating measures to overcome the negative efects of wind turbines on animals