Urva edwardsii

Yenkathala Grasslands & Little Rann of Kutch

Noted for their audacious attacks on highly venomous snakes such as king cobras, the mongoose are any of nearly three dozen species of small bold predatory carnivores found in Africa, southern Asia & southern Europe. The 33 species belong to 14 genera with the most common and probably best-known being the 10 species of the genus Herpestes, among which are the Egyptian mongoose, or ichneumon (H. ichneumon), of Africa and southern Europe and the Indian Grey Mongoose (H. edwardsii), made famous as Rikki-tikki-tavi in Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book.

But first about the spectacular grasslands where I spotted these beautiful mammals.

Yenkathala/ Enkathala Grasslands

About 60 kilometers from the capital city of Hyderabad in Telangana lie the Yenkathala or Enkathala grasslands. These grasslands are home to as many as 191 bird species which include migrants like the Pallid & Montagu’s Harriers who winter here from Russia and Eastern Asian countries traveling over 5,000 kilometers. The rare Indian Grey Wolf has also been spotted here along with a number of foxes. The dry sub-humid zone or Dichanthium-cenchrus-lasitrrus type of grasslands are prevalent here and cover almost the entirety of peninsular India except the Nilgiris. One sees thorny bushes like the Acacia catechu or Khair as it is known in Hindi, Mimosa, Zizyphus (Ber) and sometimes the fleshy Euphorbia, along with low trees of Anogeissus letifolia or Axle Wood, Soymida febrifuga - the Indian Redwood - and other deciduous species. Sehima (grass) which is more prevalent on gravel is about 27% of the cover and Dichanthium (grass) which flourishes on level soil is almost 80% of the coverage.

The dry deciduous forests ecoregion of the central Deccan Plateau covers much of the state, including Hyderabad. The characteristic vegetation is woodlands of Hardwickia binata and Albizia amara. Over 80% of the original forest cover has been cleared for agriculture, timber harvesting, or cattle grazing, but large blocks of forest can be found in the Nagarjuna Sagar - Srisailam Tiger Reserve and elsewhere. The more humid Eastern Highlands moist deciduous forests cover the Eastern Ghats in the eastern part of the state. The Central Deccan forests have an upper canopy at 15–25 meters, and an understory at 10–15 meters, with little undergrowth.

Grasslands are natural carbon sinks and therefore crucial to the global carbon cycle due to their high rates of productivity, enhanced carbon sequestration rates and geographical extent keeping global temperatures more or less in balance. They are also breeding grounds for many migratory and endangered species like the Indian Grey Wolf of which only about 3,000 are left in the wild. It is a common response from people to think forests when green cover is mentioned but grasslands are of equal import. These open natural ecosystems urgently need attention and government initiatives for protection and conservation. In Telangana, grasslands are located in the districts of Vikarabad, Nizamabad, Khammam, Siddipet and Nalgonda. The wildlife in these fragile ecosystems today face numerous threats like hunting, spread of the canine distemper virus which affects foxes, wolves & several other species, rabies from feral dogs and most crucially, habitat loss.

Read about the winter visitors to these grasslands here.

Little Rann of Kutch

The Rann of Kutch (alternately spelled as Kuchchh) is a large area of salt marshes that spans the border between India and Pakistan. It is located mostly in the Kutch district of the Indian state of Gujarat, with a minor portion extending into the Sindh province of Pakistan. It is divided into the Great Rann and Little Rann.

The Rann of Kutch covers around 26,000 square kilometres (10,000 square miles). The Great Rann of Kutch is the larger portion of the Rann and it extends east and west, with the Thar Desert to the north and the low hills of Kutch to the south. The Indus River Delta lies to the west in southern Pakistan. The Little Rann of Kutch lies southeast of the Great Rann, and extends southwards to the Gulf of Kutch. Many rivers originating in Rajasthan and Gujarat flow into the Rann of Kutch, including the Luni, Bhuki, Bharud, Nara, Kharod, Banas, Saraswati, Rupen, Bambhan, and Machchhu. Kori Creek and Sir Creek, tidal creeks which are part of the Indus River Delta, are located at the western end of the Great Rann.

The surface is generally flat and very close to sea level, and most of the Rann floods annually during the monsoon season. There are areas of sandy higher ground, known as bets or medaks, which lie two to three metres above flood level. Read more about the Khadir Bet island where I talk about Dholavira later. Trees and shrubs grow on the bets, and they provide refuges for wildlife during the annual floods. The climate of the ecoregion is subtropical. Temperatures average 44 °C during the hot summer months, and can reach highs of 50 °C and during the winter the temperature can drop to or below freezing.

Rainfall is highly seasonal with the Rann being dry for most of the year, and rainfall is concentrated in the June to September monsoon season. During the monsoon season, local rainfall and river runoff flood much of the Rann to a depth of 0.5 metres. The waters evaporate during the long dry season, leaving the Rann dry again by the start of the next monsoon season.

The Rann of Kutch is the only large flooded grasslands zone in the Indomalayan realm. The area has desert on one side and the sea on the other enables various ecosystems, including mangroves and desert vegetation. Its grassland and deserts are home to forms of wildlife that have adapted to its often harsh conditions. These include endemic and endangered animal and plant species. The predominant vegetation in the Rann of Kutch is grassland and thorn scrub. Common grass species include Apluda aristata, Cenchrus spp., Pennisetum spp., Cymbopogon spp., Eragrostis spp., and Elionurus spp.

Very unique to this Rann, are the shrubs and wetlands, as well as the colonies of flamingos, which make it one of the rarest sites on earth. Established in 1973, under the Wildlife Protection Act, the WildAss Sanctuary protects the endangered (Schedule - I) and endemic Indian Wild Ass (Equus Hemionus Khur) popularly known as Khur or Ghudkhur. Trees are rare except on the bets which rise above the flood zone. The non-native tree Prosopis juliflorahas become established on the bets, and its seed pods provide year-round food for the Near Threatened Indian Wild Ass. The Little Rann of Kutch Wildlife Sanctuary is a desolate area in western Gujarat, a refuge for the endangered Indian Wild Ass and one of the few places where the ass survives in the wild. Interestingly, this animal has its only gene pool in the Little Rann. This biogeographical region is a part of Desert, but is unlike the neighbouring sandy desert in Rajasathan or elsewhere in the world.

Read about the Indian Wild Ass here.

Birds found in the Little Rann include the Steppe, Imperial, and short-toed eagles, Houbara bustard, flamingos, pelicans, storks and cranes. You can expect to see large flocks of larks and other dry-land birds such as sand grouse, coursers, plovers, chats, warblers, babblers and shrikes. The best birding is in the winter months from October to March, when quantities of waterfowl gather. This is the time when demoiselle and common cranes, and lesser flamingoes are seen in incredibly large numbers. The wetlands also attract large numbers of waterfowl. During the monsoon when the park is closed, the salt pans flood, and at other times of the year a thin, hard surface layer hides treacherous quicksand.

Covering a staggering 4,950 square kilometres, the Little Rann of Kutch it is one of India’s largest reserves, with a diverse landscape – an impressive mixture of arid, and treacherous, salt flats, desert grassland, scrubland, lakes and marshes. It is home to numerous species of mammals like the Indian Wild Ass, the Nilgai, Indian Wolf, Indian Fox, Desert Fox, Jackal, Striped Hyena, Wild boar, Jungle Cat as well as Chinkara and Blackbuck.

The surrounding areas include Lake Nawa Talao, the village lake of Dasada, the wetlands near Patdi Fort, Viramgam Lake and Surendranagar reservoirs – all of which offer great winter birding opportunities with regular sightings of rose-coloured starlings, green pigeons and Critically Endangered Lesser Florican. Slightly further afield is the Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary and the famed Sun Temple of Modhera. 

Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary lies 44 kilometres from Dasada and the Little Rann of Kutch National Park. This 105 square kilometre sanctuary comprises a large lake & its surroundings, and is renowned as one of the finest birding sites in West India. As well as the extensive variety of birds seen in large flocks at the lake, and their predators such as marsh harrier and fishing eagle, you can also see numerous passerines in the neighbouring bushes, grasslands and fields. Sarus cranes are also frequently sighted.

The 11th century Sun Temple at Modhera is one of the finest shrines in West India. It was constructed by the Solanki Rajput kings, using the donations of devotees who practiced the ancient tradition of sun worship. The magnificent temple features amazingly detailed carved arches and pillars that rival the temples of Konark and Khajuraho. More about the stunning Modhera Sun Temple later and in the meantime if it piques the interest you can read about the mind boggling Konark Temple here.

The Little Rann of Kutch is located around 100 kilometres north of Ahmedabad on an ancient trading route dating back to early neolithic settlements. It was later inhabited by the Indus Valley civilisation as well as the Maurya and Gupta empires of India. I have written about one of the mega cities from the times of the Indus Valley Civilisation, known locally as Kotada timba - Dholavira. The people of the Indus civilization appear to have settled in the Rann of Kutch around 3500 BCE. The Indus city of Dholavira, the largest Indus site in India, is located here in the Rann of Kutch. Its location is on the Tropic of Cancer and it is one of the five largest Harappan sites and the most prominent site in India possibly indicating that Dholavira's inhabitants were skilled in astronomy.

Many Indologists such as A. S. Gaur and Mani Murali hold the view that the Rann of Kutch was, rather than the salt marsh that it is today, a navigable archipelago at the time of the Indus Civilization. The Indus Civilization was known to have an extensive maritime trade system, so it has been proposed by Gaur et al. that there were perhaps ports in the Rann of Kutch.

Read about the Harappan mega city of Dholavira here.

With that said lets move onto our focus today, the Indian Grey Mongoose. Thankfully I was at the location almost an hour before sunrise, well camouflaged and perfectly positioned when this pair came out to sun bathe and preen.

Indian Grey Mongoose

It was a beautiful winter morning on the grasslands of Yenkathala or Enkathala and the Little Rann of Kutch when I spotted the Indian grey mongoose (Urva edwardsii), a mongoose species native to the Indian subcontinent and West Asia. This mongoose inhabits open forests, scrublands and cultivated fields, often close to human habitation. It lives in burrows, hedgerows and thickets, among groves of trees, and takes shelter under rocks or bushes and even in drains. It is bold and inquisitive but wary, seldom venturing far from cover. An excellent climber it usually lives singly or in pairs. Its prey includes rodents, snakes, birds’ eggs and hatchlings, lizards and a variety of invertebrates. They are not rodents, despite popular belief. They belong to the Herpestidae family, which includes meerkats and civets. The Indian gray mongoose can survive a cobra attack, which few animals can, making it one of this deadly snake’s predators. Mongoose are often kept as pets in order to rid houses of rats and other pests.

It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

Mongoose are short-legged animals with pointed noses, small ears, and long furry tails. The claws do not retract, and in most species there are five toes on each foot. The fur is gray to brown and is commonly grizzled or flecked with lighter gray. Markings, when present, include stripes, dark legs, and pale or ringed tails.

The Indian Grey Mongoose has tawny grey or iron grey fur, which is more grizzled and stiffer and coarser than that of other mongooses. The ruddiness of the coat varies in different subspecies, but it is described as appearing more grey than other mongooses. The grizzled appearance comes from the individual hairs being ringed by creamy-white and black. The legs are brown and darker than the body. The hair around the muzzle and eyes is also brown but with a stronger rusty red colouring. The tail is bushy, whilst the tip of the tail, if coloured, is pale yellow or white.

Their tail length equals their body length. The body length is between 36–45 cm while the tail length is 45 cm. It weighs between 0.9-1.7 kg. The males are significantly larger than the females. Indian grey mongooses are unusual in that they can discriminate four colours, more than most other mammals.

Despite being a common animal, the natural history of the Indian grey mongoose is not well known. They appear to be able to occupy a wide variety of habitats but preferring open types. These include grasslands, open areas, rocky patches, scrub, semi-desert, cultivated fields and other disturbed areas, areas of thickets, bushy vegetation, dry secondary forest, thorn forest, forest edges, and also near human settlement. Although the creature has been described as being less dependent on human settlements, observations in India in heavily forested areas show it to be much more common around human settlements often scavenging on waste.

Ichneumon edwardsii was the scientific name proposed by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in 1817. It was later classified in the genus Herpestes, but all Asian mongooses are now classified in the genus Urva.

Subspecies:

• U. e. edwardsii

• U. e. ferrugineus

• U. e. lanka

• U. e. montanus

• U. e. nyula

The Indian grey mongoose is omnivorous, though most of its diet is made up from live prey it catches from being an opportunistic hunter, with mice, rats, lizards, snakes, and beetles making up the bulk. Also eaten are ground birds, their eggs, grasshoppers, scorpions, centipedes, frogs, crabs, fish, and parts of plants: fruits, berries, and roots, as well as larger prey including hares and egrets. It kills prey by delivering a bite to the neck or head.

They are known for their ability to combat venomous snakes. It primarily achieves this through tiring the snake out, by enticing it to make multiple strikes which it acrobatically avoids. Secondary protection against the venomous bite includes the stiff rigid hair, which is excited at such times, the thick loose skin and specialised acetylcholine receptors render it resistant or immune to snake venom. When dealing with scorpions, no measures are taken to disable the sting, and they are picked up in any manner.

The Indian grey mongoose typically opens eggs by holding them between the paws and biting a hole in the little end. Smaller mongooses typically open eggs by throwing them between their legs against a hard object, so it has been speculated, that the adult Indian grey mongoose should do likewise with large eggs.

The species is protected in India, but an illegal trade in hair for the purposes of making of paint brushes and shaving brushes continues, and this is one of its most significant threats. About 3000 mongoose were killed to produce 155 kg. of raw mongoose hair, which were seized by Uttar Pradesh Forest Department and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) in 2018. It has been estimated by the Wildlife Trust of India in 2002 said that around 50,000 mongooses are killed by poachers every year. In March 2020, forest department officials in Kochi impounded around 14,000 brushes whose bristles were suspected to be made of mongoose hair.

Brushes made of mongoose hair are often smuggled to the US, the Middle East and European countries, according to reports by TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring network and a strategic partner of the World-Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which operates as a program division of WWF-India.

Brushes made of mongoose hair are often sold as sable or badger brushes to avoid legal troubles on having imported a banned product. Each mongoose produces about 40 gm of hair but when the hair is sorted, only 20 gm of hair is found usable for making paint brushes.

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Little Rann of Kutch

Yenkathala/ Enkathala Grasslands

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