Ecology of the brown palm civet Paradoxurus jerdoni in the tropical rainforests of the Western Ghats, India

Abstract

The small carnivores of the mammalian Families of Viverridae, Herpestidae, and Mustelidae play very important roles in tropical rainforest ecosystems, as predators, prey, and seed dispersers. These roles have been poorly studied, even as small carnivore communities are undergoing changes due to severe loss and fragmentation of rainforests. This thesis explores the ecology of a small carnivore, the brown palm civet (Paradoxurus jerdoni Blanford 1885), endemic to the rainforests of the Western Ghats hill ranges of India, and also examines changes in the structure of the terrestrial and arboreal small carnivore community as a whole, due to rainforest fragmentation. The ecology of the brown palm civet, an endemic and nocturnal viverrid, was examined with reference to its role as a seed disperser, and the factors governing its diet composition, and ranging and activity behaviour, in the relatively undisturbed, large tract of rainforest in the Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR), between May 1996 and December 1999. The small carnivore community here was compared with that in the rainforest fragments of the Anamalai Hills that were surveyed between January and May 2000. Habitat correlates of the occurrence of small carnivores were also examined.