M Sc Dissertation(WII)

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Patterns and Determinants of Elephant Habitat Use in a Mosaic Landscape in Northern Chhattisgarh
(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2019) Meshram, Kushagra; Pandav, Bivash; Nigam, Parag
Habitat use is affected by a wide range of factors,like the amount of resources available, its distribution in space, quality of resource,presence and absence of limiting factors like roads and settlements. Increasing anthropogenic pressure has lead to the degradation of the habitat available to animals in the form fragmentation of forests, introduction of invasive species and reduction in the quality of the available forage. This in turns alters the composition and modify the natural systems. This modification of habitat may compel animals to alter the way they use it by adopting new strategies. On these lines, I did my study on assessing the factors that influence habitat use of elephants in a mosaic landscape in Northern Chhattisgarh. The study was carried out in Surguja district of Chhattisgarh. This district is famous has been infamous for elephant conflict since 1900s. The problem has exacerbated due to rapid urbanisation, increasing population and alteration in land use. Today, it is one of the most human-elephant conflict affected area in country. This is a repercussion of wanton modification of natural habitat. How elephants are interacting with this modified habitat which is a matrix of remnant forest patches, agricultural areas and settlements is the crux of my study. In order to to study this, I selected a study area of 1200 square kilometres. As a part of the study I also followed two satellite Collared individuals(one living with a herd and the other, a solitary male) to understand spatiotemporal habitat use and ranging behaviour of elephants. I also collaborated with Indian Space and Research Organisation for my study. High resolution land-use maps were provided by ISRO for this study. The field work was carried out from 21st December 2018 to 15th April 2019. GIS based work was done in the GIS lab of the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.
Habitat use by Gaur (Bos gaurus gaurus) and Assessment of Human-Gaur Conflicts Human Modified Landscapes of Nilgiris Forest Division Tamil Nadu
(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2019) Indira, S.; Sathyakumar, S.
Gaur is the largest bovine in the world and is threatened by factors such as habitat loss, poaching, diseases and other anthropogenic stresses. In unprotected landscape, their habitat is confined to small forest pockets which are interspersed with human habitations. This study investigated the use of human-modified landscapes by gaur and how does this potentially increase the negative interaction between human and the animal. Information on ecology of gaur is limited to a few studies conducted within protected areas in India. This study was conducted in the six ranges of the Nilgiris FD, viz., Udhagai North, Udhagai South, Kattabettu, Kotagiri, Coonoor, and Kundha that encompassed an area of 900 km2 during the period January to April, 2019. Secondary data related to conflict and gaur mortality was collected from the District Forest Office to assess the current conflict scenario. To investigate the habitat use by gaur, the study area was divided into grids (2 km x 2km) and an average effort of 1.5 km (+/- 0.5 km) was made in every grid. To evaluate the perception and attitude of people towards gaur and human-gaur conflict, a semi-structured questionnaire was designed preceding the reconnaissance survey. The total crop raiding incidences were 31, human deaths 6, human injury 36, livestock death 4 and property damage 3. Injuries to humans due to gaur attacks appears to be most recorded conflict as indicated by the number of incidents in 3 years, followed by crop raiding, human deaths, livestock deaths and property damage. Areas such as Nunthala, Adhigaratti and Ithalar of Kundha and Udhagai south has high conflict. Areas such as Konvakarai and Bickapathy had medium conflicts and the rest were of low conflict intensity. Most of the conflicts were of crop raiding during the months January to April. In total, 79 gaur sightings 38 dung were recorded in the study area during the study period. Most of the visual sightings were in tea plantation followed by reserve forest, human settlement and cropland. Gaur dung were recorded only in forested habitats. Various groups of people majorly sight gaur in tea plantations than other habitats. Most of the respondents have sighted gaur in and around human habitation during dawn followed by dusk and night hours. Crop Raiding (CR), Human Attack (HA), Traffic hindrance (TRA), Presence in Human Habitation (PRE HH) are the classes of conflicts perceived by the local communities. Majority of the respondents sighted gaur at least twice in a weak. Respondents’ perceived gaur as threat majorly due to have experiencing fear of attack and crop raiding. Gaur is considered as a major threat animal followed by sloth bear, wild pig, leopard and bonnet macaque. Tea plantations are the source for grass and weeds for the gaur to feed on. Proportion of reserve forest is less than other land use classes in the study area. Hence, for the large mammal like gaur can sustain only if it adapts to use the human habitation for food. Investigations on body health condition, home range, population, breeding ecology, behavior, and so on should be made in the future to understand the ecology of the large bovid within close proximity to human. Such research findings will help to make better conservation efforts for site specific and species specific issue. In spite of various wildlife encounters and conflict incidences it is likely that people and animals are co-existing in the Nilgiris. The Forest Department may have to adopt proactive measures for monitoring and management of human-animal conflict in the Nilgiris with more emphasis on gaur. Awareness creation amongst local communities and rapid response by the Forest Department personnel to manage human-wildlife conflict is crucial to avoid injury/ death and other losses/disturbances for the peaceful co-existence of both animal and people.
Assessment of Human-Elephant Conflicts in Jalpaiguri District of West Bengal in Relation to Land-Use Patterns
(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2003) Roy, Anirban Datta; Goyal, S.P.; Sathyakumar, S.
This study on Human Elephant Conflict was conducted in Jalpaiguri district .of north West Bengal to identify the level of conflicts in different areas of the district, and to recognize it in connection with land-use patterns existing in the district. The study was conducted over five months and information on conflicts was collected from Tea Gardens and Wildlife Squads. Interviews and questionnaires were also used to survey the conflict affected viilages. The different conflict areas and the intensity of the conflicts in those areas were identified with the help of gridded maps. Results showed that although most of the conflict areas had remained the same from previous studies, some new conflict areas were also emerging. Seasonality of the conflicts was also found to be related to cropping patterns adopted. Information collected from the Tea gardens showed that the Tea gardens which had previously been categorized as high conflict areas had remained same to a great extent. The Tea gardens having the highest conflict incidences were frequented more by solitary animals rather than herds. The mean group size of the herds were found to show two distinct peaks in the months of May-June and September-November. Interviews with affected villagers provided a true picture of the difficulties faced by them during crop-raiding. In the absence of Wildlife Squads, villagers had to drive the elephants away with their own methods.

M Sc Dissertation(WII)

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