The Malabar civet (Viverra civettina) was last seen half a century ago in the forests of Kerela, and is presumed to be extinct. There is not even a photograph in existence. Hopes were raised in 1991when a fresh skin was found. A WTI project is now looking for this elusive animal in its historically known areas of distribution in hope that a few are still lurking in the undergrowth waiting to be found.

Siddharth Rao, an Assistant Field Officer on the project recounts several months spent deep in the jungles of the Western Ghats looking for this civet.

Being a wildlife biologist, I was always fascinated with the prospect of working in the Western Ghats and in June 2006 I got the opportunity to do just that.

 

I had applied for a research project with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and soon found myself studying on one of India’s rarest animals, the Malabar Civet.

The study comprised of intensive search of the animal and interviews with local people – hunters, villagers and forest officials for fresh information on the animal.

It was thought that Malabar civet had gone extinct in India some four decades ago; however, subsequent discovery of a fresh skin from a villager in Kerala in 1991, raised fresh hopes that the animal might still exist in the remote parts of this region.

Though some sightings of the species have been reported in the past along the Malabar coasts in the southern Indian states of Kerala and Karnataka, there had been no confirmed reports of these sightings.

Unfortunately, very little is known about the species, since there had been no serious attempt in the past to study its ecology and distribution, till it went missing amid widespread hunting and habitat loss.

There are three other species of civets found in the country – the Common Palm Civet, the Brown Palm Civet and the Small Indian Civet, however, their status is not as threatened as the Malabar civet.

The Malabar civet is listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ in the Red Data book of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and is among the 15 most threatened mammals in the world today.

Southern India is home to all the four species of civets. The Malabar Civet is the only large civet among these species which can grow upto 8 Kgs in weight.

So why has this civet become so highly endangered and is it possible for us to do some thing before it is too late?

This desire to find out if the animal still exists in the wild encouraged me to take up the project, and since there is no photograph of a live Malabar Civet any where in the world, I should be the first to photograph the animal, though I was aware of the dangers involved – of attacks by wild animals which can prove fatal.

The Malabar Civet Conservation Project is initiated by WTI in conjunction with the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and is currently underway in the Malabar coasts covering states of Kerala and Karnataka.

Between June, July and August extensive interviews were conducted with the villagers and forest officials in the study area.

Interestingly in Karnataka, over 95% of people interviewed were not aware that such an animal existed, while in Kerala, 60 to 70 per cent of those interviewed are aware of the species.

Based on this local information, the next phase of the project was initiated in September 2006.

Eight camera traps were placed in the selected sites, four in the Malabar and Travancore districts of Kerala, while other four in the Someshwara and Biligiriranganna Wildlife Sanctuaries (BRT) of Karnataka.

 

The cameras were procured from the Center for Electronics Design and Technology (CEDT) at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore in Karnataka.

These camera traps were placed along trails used by animals and in areas where villagers had reportedly sighted the Malabar Civet.

Till now, over 1000 camera trap nights have been already spent, though sadly, the Malabar Civet still continues to elude us.

The camera traps are placed in a waterproof metal box. The box also houses a small heat sensing device that is attached to the camera. The camera is loaded with a film which is than ready to use. The camera trap is secured onto a tree beside an animal trail at a height of approximately two feet from the ground. It is also necessary to place a lure in front of the camera to attract animals. Different types of lures are used such as fish, fruit or chicken parts. One particular favorite used here was a mixture of coyote glands which is readily available. Once the animal gets a whiff of the lure and walks in front of the camera the heat sensor triggers the camera and the animal is captured on the film. The camera reloads and is ready to click again. It can take as many images as the film roll allows. Each camera trap set up for the night is considered as one camera trap night.

We have documented a wide range of mammal species using camera traps such as the Small Indian Civet, the Brown Palm Civet, the Common Palm Civet, Tiger, Elephant, Jackal, Stripe Necked Mongoose etc.

One evening, while at the Someshwara Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka, I placed one of the cameras on a large forest road not very far from a village.

My field assistant warned me about keeping my cameras out near main roads for fear that they might get stolen. When I got that particular film roll developed I was pleasantly surprised to see a photograph of a black panther who had been walking down the same road. I later learnt that this photograph is one of the few images of a black panther taken in the wild.

(Black Panthers are commonly mistaken to be a separate species. The fact is that they are leopards with a very dark coat caused by a ‘melanism’. In close examination one can see spots on the black coat.)

Camera traps have been one of our major tools during the search for the animal. DNA analysis of scat samples collected from forest is another method we used for identification of the species.

I spent a lot of my time deep inside the forests collecting scat samples. Walking through the forest tracks the entire day for samples and only stopping to drink from streams or a quick rest after lunch before heading back on the roads.

Since Malabar civets are nocturnal, the chances of sighting them at night are high, therefore, I had to keep up the search even at night and this is when the search becomes dangerous.

I can still recall the nights I spent crossing the forests armed with only a search light and a GPS in search of the elusive mammal.

The forest is very different at night and can be unsettling for someone who is not used to it. But when you are in tune it is magical.

Listening to the call of a mottled wood owl or the sawing of a leopard on a moonless night are some of my most memorable experiences in the forest.

Evergreen forests support a wide range of herpito-fauna, which means the chances of stepping on a snake at night are very high. More worrying is the thought of bumping into a herd of wild elephants in total darkness.

Elephants can be very unpredictable and their sheer size makes them very dangerous if they attack, fortunately most of my nocturnal jaunts were free of such hazards.

However, the same cannot be said for Biligiriranganna Temple Wildlife Sanctuary. Here sighting of elephants is common. The deciduous forests are ideal habitat for these large herbivores.

The difficult part is to walk along a narrow trail surrounded by thick undergrowth of lantana. Lantana is an invasive exotic species (weed) and can be found in many sanctuaries across the country.

One morning my field assistant had been taken ill and I needed to go and turn the camera traps off. The first two camera traps posed no problem and I even managed to see a herd of Gaur grazing nearby.

The third camera trap was placed deeper inside the forest and I thought nothing of walking through the undergrowth to access it. It was not until I was halfway to the site that I smelt elephants. I was immediately aware of the imminent danger and stopped to look and listen.

It took a full five minutes before I could hear the sound of an elephant uprooting clumps of grass with its trunk and hitting it against its forelegs to get rid of the mud sticking to the roots.

I knelt and peered through the lantana in front, four large grey legs were visible a few meters away. As I turned around to head back the way I had come, a large female elephant suddenly stepped out onto the path.

There was thirty meters between us and even less between me and the feeding elephant in the opposite direction. I chose to stand very still. I did not have too many options, no tall trees were close at hand, and an adult elephant can outrun the fastest of humans.

The large female was not happy that I had intruded upon a family gathering and she started to kick the dirt track with her feet. She raised her trunk to smell the air and emitted a series of short squeals.

I realized what was coming next and took a few steps back; the other elephant behind me had stopped feeding. He was still behind the lantana but had moved close to the path.

I could see the top of his head and his large tusks looming over the bushes. He had sensed my presence and had come to take a look.

The female flapped her ears and started to charge. I decided against running down the path towards the male. I pushed myself against the thorny undergrowth and was relieved to see the charging female swerve off the path into the lantana a few meters away from me.

I took the opportunity and ran towards the main road as fast as I could. My legs were dreadfully shaking but somehow managed to reach the road. They could have easily hurt me but had decided to warn me instead with a mock charge. I narrowly escaped the attack. That day, I could not check the reading on the camera.

Incidents like these reinforce my respect and awe of the forests and its wildlife.

As the monsoons approach, the camera traps need to be stored away. The torrential rains that blanket the Western Ghats (June to September) every year make camera trapping unviable.

This time will be utilized to interact with local people to learn more about the presence of the Malabar Civet. October will see the start of new camera trapping efforts with more cameras and more locations.

As the search for the Malabar Civet continues our understanding of the natural world would grow and our commitment to conserving wildlife.