 Marten belongs to the family Mustelinidae, which is related to otters, weasels and pole-cats but it is generally intermediate in size between otters and weasels, with more prominent ears and a body adapted for climbing and hunting in trees. The Marten is a member of the genus Martes within the subfamily Guloninae and the family Mustelidae. Sporting bushy tails and large paws with partially retractile claws, martens boast fur ranging from yellowish to dark brown, prized by animal trappers for the fur trade. These slender and agile creatures mainly inhabit coniferous and northern deciduous forests in India.
Types of Martens found in India There are three martens found in the Indian subcontinent, two of which are closely related and comparatively larger animals with exceptionally long tails. These are the beautiful Yellow-throated Marten (Martes flavigula) of the Himalayas extending to Assam, Burma, and Indo-Malaysia, and the Nilgiri Marten (M. gwatkinsi) confined to southern India, which is more rufescent in coloration where the former is black. The third species, the Beech or Stone Marten (Martes Fiona), occurs across the inner drier Himalayan ranges from Baluchistan to Sikkim in the east. The Stone Marten also occurs westwards in the mountains of Iran, Turkey and the Mediterranean countries. Nilgiri Marten The Nilgiri marten, the sole marten species indigenous to southern India, inhabits the hills of the Nilgiris and portions of the Western Ghats. Classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, its population is estimated to be around a thousand individuals. Deep brown in coloration from head to rump, the Nilgiri marten exhibits reddish forequarters and a bright throat ranging from yellow to orange. It features a notable frontal concavity and is larger than the yellow-throated marten, measuring approximately 55 to 65 cm in length from head to vent, with a tail spanning 40–45 cm, and weighing about 2 kg. This diurnal species is primarily arboreal but descends to the ground intermittently. It maintains an omnivorous diet, preying on birds, small mammals, and insects such as cicadas, while also consuming various fruits and seeds. The Nilgiri marten predominantly occupies shola grasslands and high-altitude evergreen forests, with occasional presence in adjacent mid-altitude moist deciduous forests and commercial plantations spanning the Western Ghats in the South Indian states of Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. Although named after the Nilgiri Hills at the center of its range, sightings have been reported as far north as Charmadi Ghat and as far south as the Neyyar and Peppara Wildlife Sanctuaries. Yellow-throated Marten The yellow-throated marten (Martes flavigula) is a marten species native to the Himalayas, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. Its coat is bright yellow-golden, with darker hues on its head and back, blending black, white, golden-yellow, and brown. This species ranks as the second-largest marten in the world, following the Nilgiri marten, with its tail comprising more than half its body length. Being an omnivore, the yellow-throated marten feeds on a variety of sources including fruit, nectar, invertebrates, rodents, lagomorphs, reptiles, birds, small primates, and ungulates. It holds a status of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List due to its wide distribution, stable population, presence in numerous protected areas, and a perceived lack of significant threats. The yellow-throated marten is found in Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Himalayas of India, Nepal, and Bhutan, continental southern China, Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula, and eastern Russia. It is a diurnal hunter, typically operating in pairs but occasionally forming packs of three or more. Its diet consists of rats, mice, hares, snakes, lizards, eggs, and ground-nesting birds such as pheasants and francolins. There have been reports of it preying on cats and poultry as well. Beech or Stone Marten The Beech Marten, also known as the stone marten, exhibits a color range from dark brown to pale grayish-brown. They typically measure between 40 to 50 cm in length and weigh up to 2 kilograms. Sporting short legs, their feet lack fur on the soles, and they possess a total of 38 teeth. The martens have long bushy tails, typically measuring between 20 to 30 centimeters in length, with grayish-brown fur and a divided white throat bib. Martes foina is characterized by a triangular head, a long and slender body, and short forelimbs, with males typically larger than females. These martens are predominantly found in the Northern Himalayas, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh. They can also be sighted in the Kaziranga National Park. Their habitat primarily consists of rocky regions, areas of human settlement, open deciduous forests, and mountain slopes at altitudes of up to 4000 meters. Ecology of Martens Marten possesses broad flattened skull with pointed inquisitive face and short powerful limbs enabling it to run swiftly up vertical tree-trunks. The animal is extremely agile while hunting in trees but look somewhat clumsy when travelling on the ground, as it arches its spine when running. It is essentially carnivorous, lives off birds and small mammals, but is known to have a distinctly sweet tooth, subsisting largely upon ripe fruit and berries in the season. The Yellow-throated Marten is passionately fond of robbing the combs of the wild hill bee. The animal usually hunts by the day and all three species are adept at running through tree-tops and bounding from branch to branch. The Stone Marten is however often found in more open mountainous country and is not dependent upon forest covers as the other two species. It usually lives and hunts singly. Only the female cares for the young, which are born in the spring, usually in a tree cavity or cranny between rocks. Beech Martens have been recorded with litters of four to five and Yellow-throated martens with litters of two to three. The young accompany their mother on hunting expeditions until they are four to five months old. All martens have quite a repertoire of vocalizations from abrupt tock tock contact calls, to growling and hissing threat calls. It is relatively bold and fearless even when encountering man, but generally avoids the proximity of human habitations and in areas which are more heavily populated they hunt by night. All martens possess anal scent glands and mark their territory by rubbing these glands on prominent stones or clumps of vegetation. |
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Marten in India
| Marten is similar to otters, pole-cats and weasels. In India, it is found mainly in the Himalayan regions and also in the mountainous regions of south India. Martens are small, agile mammals found primarily in the Himalayan region of India. Notable species include the Yellow-throated Marten, Nilgiri Marten and the Beech Marten. |
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