Nilgiri Highland Shrew

About this species

Habitat

Primary and secondary forest, montane semi-evergreen forest, montane rainforest and highland marsh, at 1,050–2,440m

Range

Western Ghats of southern India: Karnataka, Kerala and the Nilgiri and Palni hills in Tamil Nadu

The Nilgiri highland shrew, also called the Indian highland shrew, is a shrew endemic to the Western Ghats. It is the least studied shrew of its original range in southern India, and has also been treated as a form of the hill shrew, Suncus montanus (web summaries of species accounts and a Western Ghats survey paper).

It is known from a few disjunct localities in Karnataka and Kerala and from several in the Nilgiri and Palni hills of Tamil Nadu, both inside and outside protected areas. It occurs in primary and secondary forest, montane semi-evergreen forest, montane rainforest and highland marsh between about 1,050 and 2,440 m, and in one montane study it preferred places with higher tree density and ground cover and a lower canopy. It is thought to be crepuscular but may be active intermittently by day and night (web summaries of species accounts).

Description: Wildlife of India guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com)