: A recent incident in which stray dogs killed a highly endangered stripe-necked mongoose at Kaikatty in the Nelliampathy Hills has called attention to the threat posed to small mammals by abandoned dogs.
In a letter to the Chief Wildlife Warden in Thiruvananthapuram, the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) has demanded stern measures to end stray dog menace at the hill station. The society’s south India project coordinator S. Guruvayurappan said stern action should be taken against those who abandon dogs at the hill station, unmindful of the act’s consequences.
In Sri Lanka too
On Friday, the animal belonging to a rare species, already listed in the Red Data Book, was killed by a pack of stray dogs. Stripe-necked mongooses are found only in the Western Ghats and in the forests of Sri Lanka. The mongoose feeds on frogs, crabs, hares, rodents, fowl and reptiles and they are found in Nelliampathy, which shares its border with the Parambikulam tiger reserve. The mongoose finds its habitat in wet evergreen forests to dry deciduous forests and also in non-forest habitats.
The head of the animal is small, pointed and greyish in colour while the chest and legs are dark. Its tail is reddish with a black tip, with the tip turned upwards. The animal got its name from the distinct black stripe with white border marked on either side of the neck and behind the ears.
In his letter, Mr. Guruvayurappan said the Forest Department had taken no action on previous occasions in which the society submitted evidence of hunters catching the rare species.
