Browsing by Author "Saxena, Akansha"

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Assessment of impacts of National Highway 715 (Earlier NH 37) on Wildlife passing through Kaziranga Tiger Reserve, Assam
(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2020) Habib, Bilal; Saxena, Akansha; Bhanupriya, R.; Jhala, Y.V.; Rajvanshi, A.
As part of the project funded by the National Tiger Conservation Authority, New Delhi, three sites were chosen for study- the Central Indian tiger landscape including major roads cutting across the animal corridors in the landscape, the National Highway 37 (now 715) cutting through the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape in Assam, and the State Highway 33 passing through the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve, Karnataka. At Kaziranga National Park, we intended to quantify the characteristics of mortality of animals due to wildlife-vehicle collisions, and to assess the responses of wild ungulates to road-related disturbances in terms of changes in group size and composition, and habitat use patterns. Result shows that highways have adverse effects on the population of wildlife including endangered species of mammals and reptiles. Seasonal or monthly changes are the factors that influenced probability of roadkill numbers as it increased with the onset of summer and decreased towards winter. Annual monsoon floods in Kaziranga National Park from adjacent Brahmaputra River was found to be the main factor influencing large mammal mortality in wildlife-vehicle collisions. Apart from the direct impacts of roads on wildlife the indirect impacts like noise and disturbances associated with them impact significantly on the species that require an undisturbed or interior habitat. Similarly, present study exhibits variation in the group size composition of ungulates relative to distance from road. Group-size increased with respect to distance which indicates that anthropogenic effects of roads can lead to the habitat fragmentation of such species affecting population distribution. However, numbers and factors of wildlife-vehicle collisions may vary with site and condition
Ecological impacts of roads on mammals and integrity of the Central Indian Tiger Landscape
(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2023) Saxena, Akansha; Habib, Bilal; Rajvanshi, Asha
Road networks are increasing at an alarming pace worldwide, but most rapidly in developing countries like India. The drivers of road building in such countries include the need to make the benefits of development accessible to citizens in the remotest corners. However, road building in ecologically rich and sensitive regions can have severe repercussions for the wildlife in these regions. Road construction leads to destruction of habitats and physically disconnects previously contiguous landscapes. Traffic on roads directly cause wild animal mortality, cause changes in behaviour of wildlife by altering patterns of space use, and in the long-term can cause populations to diminish through either loss due to mortality, or by isolation of neighbouring populations by creating a barrier to their movement. Through this study, I aimed to understand the responses of a large mammal community to road-related disturbance through different methods, and form a basis for identifying and prioritising road stretches for mitigation of impacts on the large mammal community. The study was based in the central Indian tiger landscape which has one of the greatest potentials for long-term tiger conservation in the country, and at the same time is also facing incremental rates of road infrastructure development. The focal study species included the tiger, its co-predators and primary prey. The study is the first long-term research on the ecological impacts of roads conducted in an important tiger conservation landscape. It has direct management implications for understanding varied species responses to roads, mitigation requirements at different road types and forest protection types, and for landscape-scale prioritisation of sites for mitigating barrier and collision risk.
Monitoring of animal underpasses on National Highway 44 (Earlier 7) passing through Pench Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra, India
(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2020) Habib, Bilal; Saxena, Akansha; Jhala, Y.V.; Rajvanshi, A.
As part of the project funded by the National Tiger Conservation Authority, New Delhi, three sites were chosen for study- the Central Indian tiger landscape including major roads cutting across the animal corridors in the landscape, the National Highway 37 (now 715) cutting through the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape in Assam, and the State Highway 33 passing through the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve, Karnataka. As part of the project, we also monitored the animal underpasses constructed on the National Highway 44 passing through the Pench Tiger reserve, Maharashtra. We used camera traps to capture movement of animals under the nine crossing structures during March-December 2019. We found 18 species of wild animals that were using the crossing structures, with varying frequencies. Seven species of small mammals were found to use the structures. These included Indian hare and jungle cat, which are the most frequent users of the underpasses, and the rare rusty spotted cat. Among wild ungulates, the five major species viz., spotted deer, gaur, nilgai, sambar and wild pig were found to use the structures. Spotted deer and wild pig were the most frequent visitors to the underpasses. Tiger, leopard, wild dog, sloth bear and jackal, the major carnivore species in the landscape, were found using the structures with varying frequencies. Wild dogs were found to use the structures the most, followed by tigers. A total of 89 tiger crossings were recorded from six of the nine structures, by 11 individual tigers.
Proposed mitigation measures for maintaining habitat contiguity and reducing wild animal mortality on NH6 and 7 in the Central Indian Landscape
(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2015) Habib, Bilal; Saxena, Akansha; Mondal, Indranil; Rajvanshi, Asha; Mathur, V.B.; Negi, H.S.
Central India is considered to be the heart of India’s wildlife. It is home to some of India’s largest forest tracts, rich wildlife as well as indigenous people. It is also recognized by the National Tiger Conservation Authority, Government of India as a region with one of the best potentials for long-term tiger conservation. It harbours about 688 numbers of tigers in 19 tiger reserves (Jhala et al., 2015). Other than the tiger (Panthera tigris), the faunal diversity includes some of the most charismatic and endangered species such as the leopard (Panthera pardus), sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), gaur (Bos gaurus) and the hard ground swamp deer (Cervus duvaucelli). The tiger reserves and protected areas are connected by wildlife corridors falling outside the Protected Area network. These corridors can provide crucial connectivity and allow the free movement of tigers and other wildlife from one forest area to another, thereby connecting ‘source’ populations and ensuring demographic and genetic viability. This connectivity is also important to maintain the habitat quality of these contiguous forests for the other faunal species of the landscape. Any infra-structure development in this landscape should therefore consider the importance of the need to maintain connectivity between these animal populations. To identify specific animal crossing zones on NH-7 (Maharashtra and MP) and NH-6 (Maharashtra) passing through vital wildlife corridors and to suggest feasible locations for making underpasses and their dimensions, and in the light of these findings, review the earlier proposed mitigation measures. ii. To evaluate the barrier effect on different animal species due to factors such as road type (2 and 4-lane), traffic heterogeneity, traffic volume, vehicle speed and species characteristics at current traffic volume .