Author: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) Dates 1st to 11th Feb 2025 Locations Visited Valaparai (Anamalai Tiger Reserve); Chinnar WLS; Eravikulam WLS (and surroundings); Thekkady (Periyar Tiger Reserve) Tour Participants Clients: James and Jill Hammersley Naturalist: Ravi Kailas A 10 night visit to the southern Western Ghats turned out to be interesting for a gamut of itsContinue reading “Endemic Mammals and Birds: Western Ghats, February 2025”
Tag Archives: Western Ghats
Endemic Primates, Brown Palm Civet and More: Western Ghats, January 2025
Author: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) Dates 26th to 31st January 2025 Locations Visited Valparai (Anamalai Tiger Reserve); Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary; Eravikulam National Park (and surroundings) Tour Participants Clients: Elias Filho, Flavio Coutrin, Ana Camargo, Waldir Carvalho, Monica Vale and Milton Filho Naturalists: Ravi Kailas and Ganesh Ramachandran A brief, mammal-watching focussed effort in the southern WesternContinue reading “Endemic Primates, Brown Palm Civet and More: Western Ghats, January 2025”
Brown Palm Civet, Brown Mongoose and Lion-tailed Macaque: Western Ghats Feb 2024
Author: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) A brief mammal-watching oriented visit to the southern Western Ghats produced 27 species of mammals, including many of the ecoregion’s specialities, namely Lion-tailed Macaque, Nilgiri Langur, Nilgiri Tahr, Brown Palm Civet, Nilgiri Striped Squirrel and Brown Mongoose (seen only by me and Kumaraswamy). Sightings also included Leopard, Gaur, Indian Chevrotain, NilgiriContinue reading “Brown Palm Civet, Brown Mongoose and Lion-tailed Macaque: Western Ghats Feb 2024”
Lion-tailed Macaque, Indian Porcupine and Wayanad Laughingthrush, Western Ghats, Feb 2024: Trip Report
Author: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) Dates 1st to 5th February 2024 Participants Client: Hugh Lansdown (For a trip report from Hugh Lansdown and for much other interesting content please follow this link which leads to his informative website with quality wildlife images and reports from across the globe) Naturalist: Ravi Kailas Locations Visited Kabini (Nagarhole TigerContinue reading “Lion-tailed Macaque, Indian Porcupine and Wayanad Laughingthrush, Western Ghats, Feb 2024: Trip Report”
Endemics and Megafauna, Western Ghats Winter 2023: Trip summary
Author: Ravi Kailas Dates 20th January to 4th Feb 2024 Participants John Wright, Karen Baker, Philip Telfer and Mark Bibby Guides Ravi Kailas and Ganesh Ramachandran Itinerary Outline Day 1: Galibore (Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary). Transfer from Bangalore AirportDays 2 to 5: Kabini (Nagarhole National Park). Days 5 to 7: Bandipur Tiger ReserveDays 7 to 10:Continue reading “Endemics and Megafauna, Western Ghats Winter 2023: Trip summary”
A walk and bit at Pampadum Shola NP
Author: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) This tiny patch of montane forest, where the High Ranges meet the Palani Hills in the Western Ghats of South India, is packed with (the often unique) biodiversity. I have had the privilege to visit numerous times, and this is a brief account from a recent visit in September 2022. AsContinue reading “A walk and bit at Pampadum Shola NP”
Great Pied Hornbill and montane endemics, Nilgiris November 2021
Author: Ravi Kailas Dates: 3rd to 6th November 2021 A somewhat unplanned visit to the southeast corner of the Nilgiris, in what turned out to be one of the rainiest Novembers in the region, turned out interesting from a natural history perspective. The initial plan was to spend three nights close to Ooty and exploreContinue reading “Great Pied Hornbill and montane endemics, Nilgiris November 2021”
Indian Brown Mongoose and more, Anamalai Tiger Reserve (Valparai Area), Aug 2021: Trip Report
Author: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) Dates: 17th to 20th Aug 2021 Upto 7m of annual rainfall, much of it descending during the summer monsoon, is known to soak the Valparai region of Anamalai hills. As such, my recent visit to these hills in August, a month well within the summer Monsoon period, was accompanied by aContinue reading “Indian Brown Mongoose and more, Anamalai Tiger Reserve (Valparai Area), Aug 2021: Trip Report”
Some memories from the Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR)
Author: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) This southern most of India’s Tiger Reserves, is much about fresh water, and the deep, dark tropical forests that nurture it. Waterfalls abound, rainforest streams converge into boulder strewn rivers, flowing downhill into man-made reservoirs, finally reaching the hot, dusty plains of southern Tamil Nadu as the life sustaining Tamarabarani River.Continue reading “Some memories from the Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR)”
Anamalai Tiger Reserve (Valparai area), October 2019: Trip Report
Author: Ravi Kailas (ficustours@gmail.com) Dates: 15th to 18th October 2019 The Anamalai Hills is a repository of the immense biodiversity of the Western Ghats of south India. Somewhat surprisingly, the disturbed, plantation-rainforest landscape in the Valparai area of these hills, located as it is, surrounded on all sides by protected areas, is one of the best placesContinue reading “Anamalai Tiger Reserve (Valparai area), October 2019: Trip Report”
Ficus Wildlife and Natural History Tours 