PhD Theses (WII)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://192.168.202.180:4000/handle/123456789/104
Browse
8 results
Search Results
Item Indian Grey wolves (Canis lupus pallipes) in Human dominated landscape; Movement, space use and foraging(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2023) Khan, Shaheer; Habib, BilalThe study presented a comprehensive investigation into the ecology of Indian wolves (Canis lupus pallipes) within human-dominated landscapes in Maharashtra, India. The study focused on movement patterns, den and rendezvous site selection, and food habits of Indian wolves to gain insights into their adaptation strategies and ecological interactions within changing environments. Seven adult wolves (three males and four females) and four subadult wolves (two males and two females) were captured using soft leghold traps from 2017 - 2021. Trapped wolves were held using a double-threaded nylon hockey net and immobilized using Ketamine–Xylazine by injecting intramuscularly on their hind leg and fitted with GPS collars. A total of ten wolves from seven different packs were fitted with GPS collars, and one male was fitted with a proximity collar. The GPS collars were programmed for the different intervals between positions ranging from 0.5-5 hours per fix (median=1 hour), depending on the time of year and type of individual. I then scaled the data to 1 hour per fix for movement analysis. This research underscores the importance of understanding wolf movement, denning ecology, and food habits for effective conservation strategies. As human populations and habitat alterations increase, studying wolf adaptation is crucial for species-specific conservation planning.Item Spatio-temporal and thermal ecology of Indian rock python (Python molurus, Linn. 1758) in Sathyamangalam and Mudumalai Tiger Reserves, Tamilnadu(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2023) Vishnu, C.S.; Chinnasamy, Ramesh; Talukdar, GautamThe Indian rock python (Python molurus) is a Schedule I species in the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act-1972. It is also listed as appendices I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) since they face immense survival threats due to habitat degradation and poaching. This study aimed to assess those important aspects of this species. Before the major research objectives, I reviewed the snake telemetry papers between 2007 and 2017 and identified the suitable transmitter and anaesthetic for the study. It was found that the VHF AI-2 Hollohill model was the best transmitter for the study due to the animal's body plan, whereas the Isoflurane gaseous anaesthesia can be a suitable anaesthetic agent. Understanding the microhabitats used by a species is essential for its effective conservation and management. This study objective aimed to quantify the microhabitat use of Indian rock pythons in the Sathyamangalam and Mudumalai Tiger Reserves (STR & MTR), Tamil NaduItem Human-tiger conflict, ranging pattern and habitat use by tiger in Sundarban Tiger Reserve, India(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2015) Naha, Dipanjan; Sankar, K.; Qureshi, QamarThe Sundarban tiger inhabits a unique mangrove habitat type, isolated from neighboring tiger populations by hundreds of kilometers of agricultural and urban land. The main objectives of the present study were to (a) understand ranging pattern and habitat use of tiger (b) to quantify livestock losses by tiger predation and identify spatio-temporal patterns in conflict in and around the Tiger Reserve (c) to document and quantify the geographic distribution of tiger-human incidents and (d) to evaluate the perception and level of tolerance of people living in the vicinity of Tiger Reserve. This study showed that tiger home range range sizes are much larger than reported from Bangladesh Sundarban. The Sundarban Tiger Population is of global importance for the conservation of the species due to the size of the contiguous nature of the habitat and the unique adaptations of the tigers that inhabit these mangrove forests. In spite of only four tigers that could be radio-collared and monitored this study enhances our understanding aspects of tiger ecology in this unique landscape. Sundarban tigers are primarily diurnal, prefer certain habitat types and are reluctant to cross wide expanse of water. This information can be used to minimize human-tiger conflict which is a major impediment to tiger conservation in this region.Item Ecology of leopard (Panthera pardus) in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2011) Mondal, Krishnendu; Shankar, K.; Qureshi, QamarThe present study estimated the prey availability and prey consumption, population and survival rate and the home ranges and resource selection of leopard in Sariska Tiger Reserve. The Sariska Tiger Reserve (STR) (N27o05’ to N27o45’ and E76o15’ to E76o35’) is situated in the Aravalli Hill Range and lies in the semi-arid part of Rajasthan for four consecutive years from 2007 to with these objectives: 1. To estimate the prey availability of leopard 2. To study the food habits and prey selection of leopard 3. To estimate the population of leopard and 4. To study the home range and habitat use of leopard. In the present study, food habits and prey selection of leopard were examined during the study period following scat analysis method and kill records. Radio-telemetry technique was followed to estimate the home range and habitat use of leopard as this technique is found to be the most updated and useful practice to gather information on home range, daily and seasonal movement pattern of big cats. The result of this study presented the abundance of prey species of leopard and their consumption by leopard in Sariska TR. The study also estimated the population and survival rate of leopard in Sariska TR. Home range and habitat use of leopard was estimated in the present study and a habitat suitability model for leopard was generated in and around Sariska TR.Item Ecology and behaviour of travancore tortoise (Indotestudo travancorica) in the Anamalai Hills, Western Ghats.(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2012) Deepak, V.; Vasudevan, Karthikeyanthe study was decided to be carried out in two protected areas namely the Anamalai Tiger Reserve and Parambikulam Tiger Reserve. Located in the southern Western Ghats. This study investigated the proportion of the site occupied by Travancore tortoises, their diet, home range, activity and habitat use. The findings of this study along with the existing information were used to formulate a conservation action plan for Travancore tortoise.Item Behavioural ecology of sloth bear in Panna National Park, Central India.(Wildlife Institute of India, 2005) Yoganand, K.; Johnsingh, A.J.T.The patterns in daily and seasonal activity of sloth bears in Panna NP were studied and the factors that influenced the patterns were assessed. • Activity states were recorded by manually monitoring radio-tagged, motion-sensor fitted bears, and by deploying automated receiver-recording units that logged the strengths and pulse rates of signals from the bears. Daily and seasonal changes in temperature, relative humidity and other heat indices of the microhabitats used by bears were recorded using temperature and RH loggers. Tiger and human activities were also monitored to assess the influence of these on bear activity patterns. • Bears were found to be essentially nocturnal and crepuscular in activity and they rested during midday. This pattern of activity was similar among all radio collared bears, but with some variability. The differences in diel activity patterns among climatic and fruiting seasons were rather small. In the wet and cold seasons, bears extended their activity into the day hours and reduced their activity in post-midnight, pre-morning hours, as compared to the dry season. • Bears (except the cubbing females) were active almost every day of the year, and for several hours (> 10 hours) each day. Overall, bears were active for 48% to 54% of the whole day (out of 24 h) in all seasons. There were no large differences seen among months in percent of whole day, day time, night time, and morning time the bears were active, but evening time showed large differences. • The differences in activity start and end times among individual bears within seasons were large in certain seasons, and the differences among seasons of a bear were large for certain bears. Bears such as F63, F78 and M69 did not show much difference among seasons, while others such as F76, F80 and M50 showed large differences. Also many bears showed higher variability in cold and wet seasons than in dry season, particularly in activity start times. • Bears started their activity later and ended it earlier in the dry season than the other two climatic seasons. The earliest activity start and latest activity end was in the cold season. The differences among climatic seasons in both timings were statistically significant (ANOVA, α = 0.05). However, when activity start and end times were adjusted for seasonal sunset and sunrise times, the patterns in seasonal differences changed remarkably. 109 Wet season activity start times with reference to sunset were much earlier than the other two seasons, whereas the difference between cold and dry seasons became small. Differences in activity end times after sunrise between cold and the other two seasons too became small. • Escarpment habitat was most frequently used (50% to 85%) for day resting by bears in all months, followed by Lantana shrub thickets (15% to 50%). The use of escarpment was predominant in dry season months and decreased in monsoon and post-monsoon months, with a converse increase in the use of Lantana habitat as day-bed. • The core bears, which had substantial escarpment habitat available within their home ranges, used escarpments for day-resting predominantly in all seasons, and the peripheral bears, which had low escarpment and high Lantana cover available, used these habitats for day-resting variably. Tigers were generally nocturnal and crepuscular in activity during the dry and cold seasons. The activity of tigers peaked during crepuscular times; they predominantly rested during mid-day, and had a reduced level of activity during post-midnight, pre-morning hours. • Diel activity patterns of bears and tigers were similar to a large extent, in the two seasons tigers were monitored. The activity peaks of both species more or less coincided in the mornings and evenings, and high levels of activity of both occurred in night and crepuscular times. • Tiger activity does not seem to influence bear activity timings. The hourly activities of both were strongly positively correlated, even after controlling for temperature, with which bear activity was strongly correlated. • Humans using the forest habitats showed a high level of activity in the morning and evening times, moderate level of activity in the mid-day, early morning and late-evenings, and a low level of activity in the immediate premorning and early night hours. • Human activity overlapped highly with that of bear activity during early morning and evening hours. Overlap period was longer and the activity peaks of both coincided in the evenings of wet and cold seasons. No relationship could be seen between their hourly activitiesItem Foraging ecology of Great-Slaty Woodpecker in and around Pawalgarh Conservation reserve in Western Himalaya(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2024) Kaur, Sarabjeet; Gopi, G.V.; Uniyal, V.P.The Great Slaty Woodpecker (Mulleripicus pulverulentus, Temminck 1826) is an old-world woodpecker that prefers mature and old-growth dipterocarp forests (including Shorea robusta, Sal) across its known distribution range. The study reveals population demography, the social system and foraging behavior from logged forest and infer the distribution and home range of the Great Slaty Woodpecker, a cooperative breeding bird species, in and around the Pawalgarh Conservation Reserve in the western Himalaya of Uttarakhand state. This study presents the first census conducted for the Great Slaty Woodpecker, providing an ecological baseline for the species population estimation from its known distribution range. I inferred the home range size of each group based on 161 independent sightings of 11 family groups. These sightings represent behaviors such as foraging, nesting, roosting, vocalizations, and territory defenseItem Spatio-temporal abundance and resource selection of Indian wild ass (Equus hemionus khur) and nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus) with special reference to crop-depredation and people’s attitude in Little Rann of Kachchh, Gujarat.(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2022) Barman, Bidyut Bikas; Chowdhury, Sushant; Shah, Nita; Qureshi, QamarThe harsh climatic condition and unpredictable resource availability like water is the nature of arid and semi-arid ecosystems which is epitomised by the Little Rann of Kachchh (LRK) landscape. Indian wild ass (Equus hemionus khur), a sub-species of Asiatic wild ass, idiosyncratically represent the LRK landscape which has been holding its last remaining population after it had become extinct from its previous home ranges. In my study, I emphasised on estimating population density of Khur and Nilgai, which is the other sympatric ungulate in the landscape using widely accepted and robust scientific method. Also, intensive monitoring was very challenging due to logistic limitations and large study area. I had designed my study focusing on the southern fringe of the sanctuary as the intensive study area (ISA) and conducted temporal replicates to see the density of Khur in both summer and winter. In this study, I have developed habitat suitability map of Khur and Nilgai. Apart from the resource rich areas, it is imperative to see how the habitat model suggesting potential sites based on selected environmental variables which actually shaping their distribution in the landscape. This study identified northern part of the sanctuary connected by a bottle neck with the Greater Rann of Kachchh as a potential site which demands management intervention at large scale involving other line departments ensuring a safe corridor between LRK and GRK for Khur and Nilgai. I have studied the perception and attitude of local farmers in the southern fringe towards crop-depredation. Although, with growing rural population and increase in intensive farming, the overall attitude of farmers were observed to be mixed with both positive and negative attitude reflected in their perspective towards crop-depredation by Khur