Asia’s largest mongoose spotted in Sahyadri mountains

The presence of Asia’s largest mongoose species, the stripe-necked mongoose, in the Sahyadri mountain ranges of western Maharashtra has been confirmed.

It was first spotted in the Amba reserve forest in December 2009.

This was announced at a news conference on Friday by eco-group Green Guards after receiving confirmation from Mysore’s Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF).

Green Guards secretary Faruq Mhetar and members Dhananjay Jadhav, Suhas Waingankar, Raman Kulkarni and Uday Gurav have now undertaken intense research on the mongoose species.
NCF expert Divya Mudappa confirmed the spotting of the rare animal calling it the “stripe-necked mongoose”, Mhetar said.

Endemic to Western Ghats and Sri Lanka, this mongoose was sighted from Kudremukh in Karnataka to Kerala.

The mongoose was sighted during a video shooting for a documentary on biodiversity. “It seems that the species is quite active in this forest. Now, we are concentrating on adjoining forests for researching the species,” Waingankar said.

As the name suggests, the mongoose bears distinctive stripes on both sides of the neck. The hairy tail with dark black tip, black legs, and reddish grey fur are the other characteristics of the mongoose.
The mongoose is 95 cm long and weighs around 3.5 kg. While the other two species — common mongoose and ruddy tail mongoose feed on small animals like rats and frogs, this hunts rabbits and mouse deers.