Indian Grey Mongoose - Ramnathgudpalle Grasslands (Yenkathala Grasslands)

I am here again at these spectacular grasslands about 60 kilometres from the capital city of Hyderabad. These fast disappearing 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
Today I am here to watch & document the Indian grey mongoose - a species native to the Indian Subcontinent & West Asia. These mongoose inhabit open forests, scrublands and cultivated fields and often close to human habitation. You can hear some far off trucks trundling as they make their way to a stone quarry.
The mongoose lives in burrows and thickets, among groves of trees, and takes shelter under rocks or bushes. It is a bold and inquisitive animal but wary, seldom venturing far from cover. They are excellent climbers and usually lives singly or in pairs as you can see here.
Breeding throughout the year they feed on rodents, snakes, birds’ eggs, lizards and a variety of invertebrates.
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.
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.
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