Night is my boon: preliminary observations and temporal activity patterns of the elusive mouse deer <i>Moschiola indica</i> and few other terrestrial mammals along the Moyar River part of Mudumalai, Western Ghats

Abstract The ecology of Asia’s smallest ungulate, the mouse deer ( Moschiola indica ), remains poorly documented. We assessed the occurrence and temporal activity patterns of mouse deer using camera-trap survey data obtained from four camera traps deployed along the Moyar River within the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. The calculated photo capture rate of mouse deer was 1.35 photos/100 trap nights, 0.22 for the Stripe-necked mongoose ( Urva vitticolla ), and 0.18 for both the Indian crested porcupine ( Hystrix indica ) and Sloth bear ( Melursus ursinus ). Mouse deer and stripe-necked mongooses were predominantly nocturnal; however, mouse deer exhibited heightened midnight activity between 2200 and 0400 h. Stripe-necked mongooses showed a comparable pattern, with peak activity between 2300 and 0300 h and secondary peak around 0630 h. Temporal activity pattern overlaps between the M. indica and U. vitticolla was estimated at Δ 1 = 0.53 ± 0.08 SE (95 % bootstrap CI: 0.38–0.69). Although caution is warranted due to the limited sampling effort of this study, our findings underscore the importance of conserving riverine habitats. Furthermore, information on temporal activity patterns can contribute to improved monitoring and management of cryptic forest-dwelling ungulates.