The marten's English common name is derived from the Nilgiri Hills that form the center of its range, but sightings have been reported as far north as Charmadi Ghat and as far south as the Neyyar and Peppara Wildlife Sanctuaries. The Nilgiri marten (Martes gwatkinsii) is the only marten species native to southern India. It is omnivorous and preys on birds, small mammals and insects such as cicadas. It lives in the hills of the Nilgiris and parts of the Western Ghats. They are social and spend their time and even hunt in groups. 2. It lives in the hills of the Nilgiris and parts of the Western Ghats. The rare animal mainly inhabits the shola grassland and high altitude evergreen forests. It weighs about 2.1 kg (4.6 lb). These animals also suffer from persecution because they often destruct bees-box contents. The Nilgiri marten is the only marten species native to the southern part of India. [10][2] It has also been observed feeding on a variety of fruits and seeds. They are distributed from the Travancore Kerala, Nilgiris, Kodagu north up to the Charmadi ghats, Karnataka. Currently, this species is classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List but its numbers today are stable. [11], "Mustelids, Viverrids and Herpestids of India: Species Profile and Conservation Status", "Lesser Known Carnivores of the Western Ghats", "Recent sightings and habitat characteristics of the endemic Nilgiri Marten, Photographs: Close encounters in the wild, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nilgiri_marten&oldid=986841296, All Wikipedia articles written in Indian English, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 3 November 2020, at 09:38. They are mainly arboreal but descend to the ground occasionally. [4][5][6][7][8][9], The Nilgiri marten is diurnal. They are deep brown from head to rump, with the forequarters being almost reddish. Nilgiri martens play an important role in their ecosystem: the seeds they eat as part of their varied diet are eventually dispersed throughout the forest by way of feces. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. As of now, it has been listed ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List. They are similar in appearance to the Yellow-throated marten but only larger and have a prominent frontal concavity. It lives in the hills of the Nilgiris and parts of the Western Ghats. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. [1], The Nilgiri marten is deep brown from head to rump, with the forequarters being almost reddish, with a bright throat ranging in colour from yellow to orange. Nilgiri Marten on The IUCN Red List site -, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nilgiri_marten, https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/12847/86161239. [ 8 ] [ 7 ] [ 5 ] [ 5 ] [ 2 ] it has a prominent concavity... Tea, acacia, coffee, cardamom, and insects such as cicadas destruct nilgiri marten iucn. 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