PhD Theses (WII)
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Item Ecology and ranging behaviour of Elephants, Elephas maximus, and its implications for managing human-elephant conflict in Chhattisgarh, India(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2022) Lakshminarayanan, N.; Pandav, BivashIn the East-central region of India that supports the smallest regional elephant (Elephas maximus) population, the elephant ranges have expanded in northern Chhattisgarh (erstwhile eastern Madhya Pradesh) since late 1980s. Chhattisgarh was carved out of Madhya Pradesh during the year 2000, and thence, the State has been witnessing elephant range expansion and concomitant population growth resulting in acute human–elephant conflict. Over 60 human lives are lost every year due to human–elephant conflict, and the trend is only increasing. Chhattisgarh scenario represents challenges facing management of elephant populations undergoing environmental dispersals that typically result from saturated habitat conditions in the elephant home ranges. In response to the prevailing conflict situation, the study aimed to understand facets of elephant ecology and aspects of human–elephant conflict to generate management perspectives. Historic information available as fragments in literature indicates that elephant distribution in the whole of East-central region was marked by both range expansions and local extinctions during the last one century. In particular, the contemporary phenomenon of elephant range redistribution in the East-central region peaked after 1980s, and coincides with large-scale human-induced disturbances to the formerly intact elephant habitats in the region. There were also pull factors like creation of pseudo-habitats (providing only cover for elephants) through forestry operations that possibly attracted elephants to human–dominated areas perpetuating human-elephant conflict. In Chhattisgarh, the elephant distribution during the period 2012 to 2017 was reported from 16 Forest Divisions and four Protected Areas in the north and north-central regions of the state. The elephant population, as enumerated by Chhattisgarh Forest Department during 2021, ranged from 250 to 300.Item Study on distribution and relative abundance of large mammals and impact of human disturbance in and arond Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2023) Ahmed, Arif; Gopi, G.V.The current study was started to gather baseline data on a few ecological factors (Diversity, distribution, relative abundance, Activity pattern and habitat preference) of selected large animals in Mehao WS. Northeast India. The study period was November 2017 to 2020. The objectives of the study are 1. To estimate the relative abundance and occupancy of selected large mammals in and around Mehao wildlife sanctuary. 2. To develop Habitat suitability model for selected large mammals in and around Mehao WS 3. To analyse the land use/land cover change pattern and to identify the main driving factors.Item Assessment of the existing National Highway – 7 and its proposed widening on habitat use and movement of wild animals in Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh.(wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2019) Pragatheesh, A.; Rajvanshi, Asha; Mathur, V. B.The construction of roads and railways change the natural landscape along the entire length of the road, or railway line, apart from fragmenting the landscape. Compared to national highways, narrow country roads have more intense network ad its penetration into the wild habitat is deeper and the adverse effect is therefore manifold as compared to a single national highway. mobility of people and transportation of goods is an integral component of globalization and economic opportunity, road infrastructure that enhances connectivity among people also results in increased habitat fragmentation which is recognized as the largest single threat to biological diversityItem Landscape level modeling of Asian Elephant (Elephas Maximus) habitat, Its population and interaction with humans in Nepal(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2021) Ram, Ashok Kumar; Pandav, Bivash; Mondon, Samrat; Subedi, Naresh; Ram, BabuThe nature and extent of human-elephant conflicts studied in Chitwan National Park and Parsa National Park complex (CNP & PNP) and its buffer zone in Nepal shows that crop damage and human casualties were more serious conflict issues among the other concerns of human–elephant conflict.Item An assessment of human-wildlife interactions in the Indus valley, Ladakh, Trans-Himalayas(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2012) Chandola, Shivani; Mathur, V.B.The Hemis National Park, in the “Ladakh mountains” Zone 1A, presents such a case of human-wildlife interaction, where the Snow leopard (Panthera uncia) and the Tibetan wolf (Canis lupus chanko) are known to be the major cause of livestock losses to the agro-pastoral communities of this region. On the other hand, the livestock grazing and tourist influx have been cited as challenge for habitat and wildlife conservation. The present study was designed to improve upon the existing knowledge on the human-wildlife interactions in Ladakh. The major objectives of the study were to (i) study the pattern of resource use and its contribution to livelihood of local communities in Trans-Himalayan landscape; (ii) evaluate xi the pattern of conflicts arising from resource use practices by the local communities and its impact on wildlife values; (iii) examine the existing education systems and religio-cultural teachings in their ability to address the conservation issues of the region, and (iv) to examine the existing policy instruments and suggest improvement to minimize such conflicts. The assessment of natural resource dependency and sources of livelihood for the local community residing inside the HNP was carried out during 2005-2006 using data generated through questionnaire surveys, personal observations and secondary sources.Item The ecology and conservation of ungulates in Great Himalayan National Park, Western Himalaya.(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 1999) Vinod, T.R.; Rawat, G.S.Ungulates form a major component of the mammalian fauna in the Himalaya. In total, 19 ungulate species belonging to four families viz., Moschidae, Cervidae, Bovidae and Equidae, inhabit the Himalaya, out of which eight species are reported from the state of Himachal Pradesh (HP). Apart from some surveys and short term ecological studies on a few ungulate species of Western Himalaya, there has been no detailed study on ungulates of HP except for Himalayan ibex (Capra ibex sibirica). The available literature highlights the difficulties of studying rare and/ or elusive ungulates in Himalayan condition. Long term study on the ecology of theses' species are needed for the conservation and monitoring. Present study on the ecology and conservation of ungulates namely goral (Nemorhaedus qoral), Himalayan musk deer (Moschus chrvsogaster), Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus), in Great Himalayan National Park, Kullu district, HP, was conducted from January 1996 to November 1998. An intensive study area of ca. 90 km2 was selected in the South-western region of. the Park, which represents various ecological zones of the Park. The objectives of the study were (i) to estimate the abundance and density of goral, Himalayan musk deer & Himalayan tahr in relation to human use, (ii) to determine the group size. composition & sex ratio of these animals. (iii) to study the habitat use pattern and (iv) to identify and discuss conservation issues. mitigation measures and to develop a long term' monitoring programme. In this study an attemp has been made to estimate the abundance and density of major ungulates viz, goral, Himalayan musk deer and Himalayan tahrItem 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 Habitat use, ranging pattern and management of sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) in North Bilaspur Forest Division, Madhya Pradesh.(Wildlife Institute of India, 2002) Akhtar, Naim; Chauhan, N.P.S.In the North Bilaspur forest division (NBFD) Chhattisgarh, sloth bears have created very formidable image among the local people. The habitat available to sloth bears is highly disturbed, fragmented, unprotected, and interspersed with villages, small townships, and cultivation areas. Sloth bears invade human habitation and agricultural crop fields and increasingly attack on people and cause extensive crop damage. This is the first study on sloth bears in India, which has been conducted outside the protected areas. The study is very important not only for the benefit of local people, suffering from the bear menace but also for the bear itself whose status is vulnerable in these areas. The study was carried out in Pendra and Marwahi ranges using transect sampling of vegetation and bear evidences, remote sensing, bear count at den sites, tracking of collared bears, and village survey.Item Response of small carnivore community to landscape and climatic variability in the Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area, the Western Himalaya(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2022) Bandyopadhyay, Meghna; Ramesh, KThis study will add knowledge about the elusive and lesser-known small carnivores in a gradient of disturbed and less disturbed habitats. Objectives The study focusses on the following objectives: 1) Occurrence and abundance estimation of small carnivores across space and time along the elevation gradient. 2) Assessment of community composition of small carnivores and association with other small carnivore species. 3) Evaluation of landscape sensitivity by representative small carnivore species. 4) Distribution modelling of indicator species to anthropogenic and climatic effects in the current context Study focusses on the arrangements of small carnivores along the elevation gradient in terms of site intensity usage and abundance of small carnivores. Marked (leopard cat) and unmarked (red fox) species were considered and statistical models were used to find the overall abundance and also across the elevation gradient in space and time. demonstrates the coexistence patterns of small carnivores (red fox and leopard cat) in three dimensions; space, time and diet. The niche dynamics was assessed and compared between low human disturbance and high human disturbance areas. Study reveals how the coexistence patterns of small carnivores change with differential human disturbances.