Western Ghats: Lion-tailed Macaque, Brown Palm Civet and other endemic mammals, a trip report

Please see http://ficustours.blogspot.com/2020/03/western-ghats-lion-tailed-macaque-brown.html for full report

A brief, mammal watching oriented guided tour, with a focus on endemic primates, to the Anamalai mountains of the southern Western Ghats, produced all primates of the region (including Lion-tailed Macaque, Nilgiri Langur and Slender Loris), Brown Palm Civet and Nilgiri Tahr among 21 species of mammals. While birding was decidedly incidental, we did manage to see regional specialities like Painted Bushquail, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Malabar Trogon, Malabar and White-cheeked Barbets, Malabar Parakeet, White-bellied Treepie, Nilgiri Flycatcher and Blue-faced Malkoha. Notably the forests were largely devoid of Phylloscopus warbler activity, as is otherwise typical of this time of the year – a reflection of subdued bird migration to the broader region, in the winter of 2019-20? It was great to host Mark Spence and Andreas Jonsson from the mammal watching community, on this productive, albeit, brief leg of their respective trips.

Dates

18th to 21st February 2020

Tour Locations

Sethumadai, Top Slip & Valparai

List of Mammals Seen*

Three-Striped Palm Squirrel Funambulus palmarum
Jungle Striped Squirrel Funambulus tristriatus
Indian Giant Squirrel Ratufa indica maxima
Indian Giant Flying Squirrel Petaurista philippensis philippensis
Nilgiri Langur Semnopithecus Johnii
South-eastern Langur Semnopithecus priam
Lion-tailed Macaque Macaca silenus

Bonnet Macaque Macaca radiata

Grey Slender Loris Loris lydekkerianus

Nomenclature as per Menon, V., 2014. A Field Guide to Indian Mammals. Hachette India. ISBN 978-93-5009-760-1

*This list could have been realistically bolstered with Ruddy Mongoose, Dusky Striped and Grizzled Giant Squirrels, but for a specific focus on primates, which did not allow for extra time to look for these species.