Abstract
This study was undertaken to assess the threat from road kills for three-striped palm squirrels in the tropical forest of Sigur plateau, Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu, and Southern India from January 2014 to December 2016. Road kills were recorded along the Udhagamandalam to Masinagudi state highway passing through Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (40 km). Four visits per month were carried out mostly on weekends (Saturday or Sunday). A total of 497 three-striped palm squirrel kills were recorded, with an overall rate of 0.09/km of the roadway. Habitat wise 387 kills were observed in the thorn forest and 110 in dry deciduous forest habitats. Season wise 176 kills were recorded in winter, 156 in summer, 83 post-monsoon, and 82 during the monsoon. The study distinguished the ongoing major threat on the three-striped palm squirrel in the present scenario.
Highlights
Funambulus palmarum is a small rodent of the Sciuridae family, with four subspecies native to India and Sri
Three-hundred-andeighty-seven kills were observed over 33km of road in thorn forest habitats (ER=0.08 individuals/km/ month), and 110 in dry deciduous forest (7km; encounter rate (ER)=0.11 individuals/km/month) (Table 2)
Month-wise analyses of the roadkills show that May (n=75; 25±1.15) had more number of roadkills followed by December (n=61; 20.33±1.76), April (n=48; 16±1.15), November (n=47; 15.66±1.45) March (n=42; 14±1.15), and January (n=41; 13.66±1.45) (Figure 2); and significant variations were observed between month-wise data and the year-wise data (F=11.12 p= 0.005)
Summary
Funambulus palmarum is a small rodent of the Sciuridae family, with four subspecies native to India and Sri. Molur 2008), where it is widely distributed from sea level to 2,000m (Nameer & Molur 2014). Squirrels can reach head-body length of 12–15 cm and tail length of. 14–15 cm (Menon 2014), and they have short fur that is yellowish-brown or brown on the back and creamy white on the belly (Menon 2014). Three white stripes on the back stretch from the head to tail. F. palmarum has dark round eyes, small triangular ears, long front teeth, and a bushy tail It is an omnivore with a diet based largely on fruit and nuts that includes
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