For some time, R. travancoricus was feared to be extinct. In early 2009, University of Delhi researchers announced that the species had been rediscovered in the Western Ghats. The rediscovery was a result of intense surveying in the Western Ghats. Before the discovery of a single male from Vandiperiyar in 2004, the species had not been recorded after its description in 1891 by George Albert Boulenger. More recently, two males have been found from Vagamon. The species remains very rare, and the known populations, both in Kerala, occur in disturbed habitat (tea plantations) outside protected areas.