Browsing by Author "Dhakate, Parag Madhukar"

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    Aspects and determinants of human-carnivore conflict in tiger corridors of Terai, Western Circle, Uttarakhand
    (Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2024) Ranjan, Vivek; Badola, Ruchi; Dhakate, Parag Madhukar
    Human-wildlife interaction with negative consequences, commonly termed Human- Wildlife Conflict (HWC), is a global conservation challenge. Understanding the cause-effect relationship resulting in HWC is essential to resolve and mitigate the conflict and promote human-wildlife coexistence. However, the increasing human population and rapidly changing demography severely affect the contiguity of forested landscapes and habitats, becoming a major challenge for conserving wide-ranging large mammals. The conservation and protection of wildlife corridors are vital for the survival of wide-ranging large mammals in the landscape. The Terai landscape, located in the foothills of the Himalayas and proximate plains of the Indian Himalayan Region, is one of the most significant and distinct transboundary landscapes worldwide. In recent decades, the Terai region has recorded a rapid increase in human population and industry growth due to its conducive topography for industrial development in the hilly state of Uttarakhand. The region is also home to diverse wildlife, and increased conservation efforts and protection have yielded positive results, with an increased population of endangered wildlife species like tigers in the last few years. With increasing population and shrinking wildlife habitat, human and wildlife's peaceful and sustainable coexistence is distressed, leading to an increased probability of negative human wildlife interaction. The study aims to assess the aspects and determinants of Human-Large Carnivore Conflict (HLCC) in the wildlife corridors and their adjoining habitats in the eastern terai landscape of Uttarakhand state of India. The large carnivores considered for the purpose of this study are tiger and leopard only, which are common in the landscape of the study area. The study has three objectives: to assess the nature and extent of human-wildlife conflict due to large carnivores, the habitat structure and composition of the wildlife corridors and the diet preferences and consumption patterns of large carnivores in the corridor habitat. The thesis has been divided into six chapters, where the first two chapters are a general introduction and literature review, and the following four chapters talk about socio-ecological factors, habitat quality of corridor habitats, implications of habitat changes on HLCC, and diet profile of two sympatric large carnivores of the study area, i.e. tiger and leopard. The study area is part of Terai Arc Landscape (TAL), a Tiger Conservation Landscape (TCL_Id-44) of global importance with the potential for increasing the wild tiger population. The study was conducted in the delineated wildlife corridors for large mammals in the terai landscape of Uttarakhand state of India. The study focuses on the critical wildlife corridor in high tiger density and transboundary areas, providing crucial connectivity of habitats and wildlife populations. The study area is divided into two study blocks for the spatial convenience of the study: Block 1 comprises the Kosi Corridor, and Block 2 comprises theKilpura-Khatima-Surai (KKS) and Boom-Brahmadey (BB) corridor and their adjoining forests. Kosi corridor connects Corbett Tiger Reserve to Pawalgarh Conservation Reserve in Ramnagar forest division. The KKS and BB corridors in Block 2 have contiguous and interconnected habitats adjoining Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary in the Haldwani Forest Division of Uttarakhand, connecting to Pilibhit Tiger Reserve and Sukhlaphanta National Park through forest of Nepal. The study area is rich in faunal diversity and home to a few important large mammals, such as the Tiger, Leopard and the Asian elephant. In order to understand the nature and extent of HLCC in the landscape, it was essential to understand the socio-economic conditions and perceptions of the communities. We conducted random household (HH) semi-structured questionnaire surveys and discussions in the villages located in the corridors. The information on HWC compensation records was also collected from the Uttarakhand Forest department to analyze the patterns of conflict incidences. The results show that livestock grazing, fuelwood, and fodder collection from the forest are common and prevalent practices. About 90% of the households have LPG connections at home, yet most HH members still visit forests for collection. The education level among the respondents is low, with maximum HHs having an annual income of less than one lakh. The major occupation as the primary source of income in the study area is casual labour work, and most of the HHs have land holdings of less than an acre. The incidences of HLCC mainly occurred inside the forest areas and later half of the daytime, i.e., from noon to evening. The season of incidence and condition of the body of the depredated livestock show significant association with the place of incidence. The seasonality pattern of HLCC incidences shows nan incidents during monsoon in study block 1, whereas in block 2, it is in winter. The trend of incidences over the last 13 years in study block 1 shows a peak in tiger and leopard cases during July and August and forecasts an increase in cases over upcoming years. The annual trend of HLCC in the two study blocks is significantly different. The nature of HLCC in the study area is both tangible, which can be visually observed and intangible, which has imbibed effects with direct and indirect impacts. The tangible nature of large carnivore conflict is the direct impacts in the form of human casualty and livestock depredation. The intangible nature of the conflict with indirect impacts are psychological— fear of large carnivores and sense of insecurity, social — loss of livelihood and family security. The aspects of HLCC are socio-ecological, with both the social factors of communities residing around the forest and the ecological processes influencing the HWI. In rapidly transforming human-dominated landscapes, anthropogenic activities and disturbances significantly impact the ecological processes and landscape characteristics. The habitat quality was assessed using the nested quadrat method for vegetation and camera trapping for large carnivore population estimation and prey availability. The camera trapping was done using the capture-recapture method in 2 sq. Km sampling grids. The results show maximum tree diversity in the BB corridor, with good to fair Sal regeneration in all three corridors. However, most of the tree species show poor to no regeneration. Sixty-one species of trees were recorded from the three corridor areas sampled. As an invasive plant species, Lantana camara is more prevalent and extensive in study block 1 and Ageratina adenophara in block 2. The grassland habitat is shrinking, and less in all three corridor habitats.Anthropogenic disturbance is high in block 2 in comparison to block 1, while tree cutting and lopping are the most prevalent anthropogenic disturbance signs observed in all three corridors at equivalent levels. The medium-sized prey is the most abundant prey base in both the study blocks, with maximum relative abundance of Spotted deer. However, the relative abundance of Sambar deer is higher in the bhabar topography area of corridors and maximum in large sized prey. The study block | has 16 adult tigers and 22 leopards, while block 2 has 31 adult tigers and 40 leopards. The wildlife habitats of the three corridor areas studied have good tree diversity and complexity. However, the regeneration of tree species is poor for most species. The shrub and herb cover are also low for most areas in all three corridors, affecting the lower structure of forest habitats. The extensive growth of weed species like Lantana camara and Ageratina adenophora also affects understory species' composition, structure, and tree regeneration. The poor regeneration and deteriorated lower strata vegetation with sparse undergrowth are unfavourable conditions for breeding large carnivores, which requires dense patches for hiding their offspring. The lack of such patches and high human disturbance forces them out of the forest to use sugarcane farm fields to raise and hide their young ones, as has been observed in many instances in the Terai-Bhabar landscape. Using human-modified landscapes by large carnivores for their life cycle stages is unsuitable for human-wildlife coexistence and increases the vulnerability of negative HWI. ASS Bind Expert in CC EE TTT The implications of habitat transformations on HLCC were assessed by identifying spatial conflict hotspots based on compensation records of the last 14 years and the magnitude of incidents related to large carnivores in different locations. The Land Use Land Cover (LULC) and Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) change over twenty years were assessed. The Nighttime Light (NTL), an indicator of human growth and activity centres, was also assessed for a decadal change. The impact of changes in these habitat attributes on hotspots was assessed using the Generalized Linear Model. The model shows that the impact of vegetation health change and human activity or disturbances have a significant effect on conflict hotspots. The very high-risk zones are also located in the delineated corridors near bottleneck areas. The study has highlighted that the implications of habitat changes are significant for HLCC. The implications of habitat changes vary with the landscape and regional attributes, as observed in our study at two sites with varied underlying factors other than habitats. In the present conservation paradigm of large carnivores, it is essential to understand the feeding habits and prey-predator dynamics outside protected areas. Our study fills this gap in our understanding of the dietary habits of sympatric large carnivore species outside protected areas (PAs) in the terai landscape of India. It focuses on the feeding ecology of tigers and leopards in wildlife corridor habitats outside PAs. Our results show a significant dependence of tigers and leopards on medium-sized prey, i.e., Wild boars and spotted deer. It also shows a 93% overlap between tiger and leopard diets in the study area. However, it is crucial to augment wild prey availability in the wildlife corridor habitats, where grazing pressure is high. The problem of stray cattle has further escalated the issue of livestock depredation by large carnivores. Conservation strategists must consider the feeding habits of the predators and how these are changing due to the induced effects of anthropogenic activities.