PhD Theses (WII)

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    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, Qamar
    The 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.
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    Habitat use, ranging patterns and food habits of striped hyaena (Hyaena hyaena) in Kutch, Gujarat
    (Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2013) Bopanna, I.P.; Jhala, Y.V.
    Among the diverse carnivores found in Kutch, the striped hyaena is the one of the largest and the region is also a stronghold for the species. This study was developed for a better understanding of the ecology and behaviour of the species. It aims at providing a better understanding of density, food availability and sociability in hyaenas, at the interface of human land uses. The study was carried out mostly in Abdasa and parts of Lakhpat, Nakhatrana and Mandvi talukas in Kutch district of Gujarat state, for five years from January 2006 to January 2011. During the course of the study, the sudden influx of industrialization in the region changed the dynamics drastically, undermining traditional way of life and value system. This change in dynamics resulted in rapid change in land use patterns and illegal encroachment of prime wildlife areas, directly affecting the wildlife in the region. This study will directly contribute for the conservation of the species in the region and elsewhere and also determined the food habits and foraging patterns of the species in the region and its dependence on anthropogenic food sources.
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    Ranging Patterns of Asiatic Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus) with reference to food availability in Dachigam National Park, Kashmir
    (wildlife Institute of India, 2012) Sharma, Lalit Kumar; Sathyakumar, S.
    Asiatic black bear are threatened due to poaching for gall bladder (medicine), skin (ornamental), retaliatory killings to reduce bear-human conflicts, and due to large scale habitat degradation or loss. The present study was carried out during 2007-2011 to address the issues related to movement patterns of black bear in relation to food availability in Dachigam landscape and to understand the food and feeding habits of black bear in different seasons. Habitat characterization and mapping were carried out to assess habitat quality and to understand the level of fragmentation and composition of Dachigam landscape. The forest fragmentation analysis in the present study suggested intermediate level of fragmentation and it is likely to increase because of human encroachment on the forest land. The forested fragmentation can adversely impact the movement of bear in the landscape which may lead to demographic as well as genetic isolation of species, hence leading to population fragmentation and extirpation.
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    Ranging patterns and habitat use of re-introduced gaur (Bos gaurus gaurus) in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh.
    (Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2014) Navneethan, B.; Qureshi, Qamar; Sankar, K.
    Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR), situated in Central India, supported a small population of gaur (38. individuals) till 1995. This gaur population became locally extinct in 1998, and the reason for the same is attributed to disruption of the migratory corridor between the forests of Bandhavgarh and Ghunghuti and Amarkantak. Even after the local extinction of gaur, BTR continued to be an excellent habitat for gaur and hence it was decided to reintroduce gaur in BTR as it would be a major conservation initiative for this endangered species. The present study on reintroduced gaur was carried out from March 2011 to February 2013 covering all seasons in a year, summer (March - June), monsoon (July - October) and winter (November - February) in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, Central India, to study the ranging pattern and habitat use.
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    Prey selection, ranging pattern and habitat utilization of the reintroduced tigers in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, western India.
    (Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2015) Bhattacharjee, Subhadeep; Sankar, K.; Qureshi, Qamar
    In a forest ecosystem, large felids are generally the top predators in almost every food chain influencing the structure and dynamics of the subsequent descending trophic levels. Evaluation of last fifty years’ presence and absence status of large felids in Protected Areas (PAs) of Indian subcontinent revealed that local extinction was highest in the dry deciduous habitat. Tiger, among all large felids had already become locally extinct from 70% of semi-arid dry thorn and 35% of dry deciduous forest areas. Tigers in dry semi-arid forests with its global western most limit, survive in small isolated populations. The present study assessed the movements and ranging patterns, prey availability, prey utilization and resource selection of reintroduced tigers in Sariska Tiger Reserve from July 2008 to June 2012. After the local extermination of the tiger population in Sariska Tiger Reserve (STR), during December, 2005 with the consent of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Rajasthan Forest Department a recovery plan for tigers in Sariska was prepared by the Wildlife Institute of India along with a detailed protocol for tiger reintroduction. The present study was conducted in 400 km2 area which is the notified National Park area of Sariska Tiger Reserve from July 2008 to June 2012 covering all the three seasons monsoon (July to October), winter (November to February) and summer (March to June) with the following objectives: a) to evaluate the prey availability for the reintroduced tigers, b) to assess the prey selection patterns of the reintroduced tigers, c) to study the movement and ranging patterns of the reintroduced tigers and d) to assess the habitat utilization patterns, resource selection and response of tiger to various anthropogenic pressure in the study area. In Sariska, peafowl was observed to be the most abundant prey species throughout the study period.
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    Systematics and ecology of Berberidaceae in Uttarakhand state.
    (Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2012) Banerjee, Kausik; Rawat, G.S.; Adhikari, B.S.
    In the present study Population estimation, Habitat loss, Ranging pattern, Food habits and other parameters were discussed.