M Sc Dissertation(WII)

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    Comparing acoustic properties, diel activity pattern and social representation of Golden Jackal (Canis aureus) in rural and urban habitat types
    (Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2026) Bajpai, Ashutosh; Mahajan, Prashant; Pandav, Bivash; Lokhandwala, Seema
    The selection pressures which an urban environment induces upon wild animals can lead to significant behavioural shifts over time. In this study, we attempted to understand the effect of urbanisation on acoustic properties and the diel activity pattern of golden jackals. We also explored the social representations of golden jackals in rural and urban environments. The Wildlife Institute of India’s campus was the urban study area. Two ranges of Haridwar Forest Division and Gaindikhata village were the rural study area. We deployed passive acoustic monitoring devices for acoustic data collection, camera traps to understand diel activity patterns and interviews were taken to collect data on people’s perception towards golden jackals. 129 vocalization events (urban-66 and rural 63) were used to compare acoustic parameters. Rural vocalisations were more spectrally brighter, acoustically elaborate and longer compared to urban vocalisations which were more spectrally darker, tonally denser and shorter. Rural jackals were found to be diurnal (59.6% day) while urban jackals were more nocturnal (71.6%). The most important finding from the prototypical quadrant matrix was that “dog-like appearance” was the most salient free listed item with Smith’s Salience Index of 0.577 for rural subjects and 0.176 for urban. The urban subjects mostly ecology/wildlife and conservation professionals structured their representation around ecological and behavioural traits such as howling (0.152), scavenging behaviour (0.150), social animals (0.141) whereas rural respondents structured their representations around ‘attacks poultry’ (0.197), ‘enters home/kitchen’ (0.103), ‘scavenger’ (0.192). The study’s findings suggest that golden jackals adapt to the stressors induced by urban respondents and have contrasting social representation in rural versus urban habitat type.