M Sc Dissertation(WII)
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Item Spatial and Temporal Responses of Leopard (Panthera pardus) in the Presence of Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) in Rajaji National Park Uttarakhand(2021) Krishna, Anubhuti; Lyngdoh, SalvadorLeopards co-occur with tigers in several parts of Asia as well as over a major portion of their geographical distribution in India. A clear dominance hierarchy establishes between the two felid species in regions of sympatry with tigers, owing to stark body size differences, holding higher ground. The striped felid, thus, invokes numerical as well as functional responses in their less dominant counterparts. The current study aims at understanding the spatial and temporal patterns of leopards in the presence of tigers. Rajaji National Park in Uttarakhand offers an excellent natural setup for understanding such intra-guild interactions as the western part of the Park hosts leopards but is devoid of tigers and the eastern region has sympatric populations of the two felid species. These act as control and experimental setups respectively, and hence this site was chosen for conducting the field sampling. It was found that leopards exhibit some degree of spatial segregation from tigers as was evidenced by differences in the activity hotspots of the two felids in Eastern Rajaji. This is attributable, at least in part, to tigers as a negative relationship was obtained between space use by tigers and leopard occupancy under the occupancy framework. Temporal patterns, on the other hand, revealed a rather interesting trend. The diel activity of leopards in Eastern Rajaji, i.e., in the presence of tigers was very different from that of leopards in the western part of the Park. The activity of the latter was distributed throughout the day with nocturnal peaks of low intensity. The former, however, showed an activity pattern restricted to the nocturnal hours with very little activity during the day. The temporal peaks for this population also showed greater intensity than that of the pattern observed in the western leopard population.These peaks of activity, however, contrary to expectations, coincided with those of tigers in the landscape. Since predator-prey interactions also play an important role in shaping the temporal activity patterns of carnivores, the temporal overlaps between the two felids and their potential prey was also analysed. This too failed to offer an explanation to the rather unexpected leopard diel pattern in ER. It was subsequently observed that though leopards might have similar temporal activity to that of tigers, they are rarely at the same place at the same time. A clear lag was observed between leopard captures at camera traps following photo-captures of tigers at the same location. Hence, a combination of spatial and temporal segregation might be at play at a finer scale than at the population level and requires further examination in order to elucidate the interactions and mechanisms of sympatry between leopards and tigers in this landscapeItem Playing it Safe Tiger Movement and Livestock Depredation Patterns in Panna Tiger Reserve, Central India(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2021) Mohan, Manu K.; Ramesh, K.; Sathyakumar, S.The movement of large carnivores in human-dominated landscapes is not uncommon anymore. While their presence is superficially tolerated or ignored, it is a consistent cause of concern to the people living in its proximity, due to competing interests in sharing of resources and direct threat to human lives. Carnivores incur energetic costs in the form of restricted activity and having to make spatial and temporal activity adjustments. Humans, on the other hand, face losses from livestock depredation and/or loss of lives. Depredation patterns of livestock by carnivores are associated with a variety of factors including habitat structure as well as movement patterns of carnivores in relation to anthropogenic and livestock activity. Hence, deducing movement patterns of the groups in conflict is an important step in understanding the dynamics of conflict patterns at fine scales. Supplemented by models to predict the probability of conflicts spatially which delineates conflict hotspots, site-specific mitigation measures could be devised. To understand such patterns of carnivore movement and relation to livestock depredation events, I conducted this study in a human-dominated region adjacent to the Critical Tiger Habitat of Panna Tiger Reserve in central India from December 2020 to April 2021, within an area of 200 km2. The broad objective was to model the conflict probability based on the proportion of the human-dominated area used by tigers, its intensity of use and spatio-temporal activity within the area, in response to human disturbances. For this, I used intensive camera trap sampling at fine-scale within grids (1 km x 1 km) across the entire study area. Movement parameters of tigers such as displacement and distance to villages in day and night were also analysed by monitoring two GPS-collared tigers in the study area. Occupancy estimates showed 74% of the sampled area being used by tigers, with the relative abundance of a large bodied wild prey (sambar) as the strongest predictor. In addition, a clear positive trend in the relative abundance index of tigers with distance to villages was observed. The temporal activities of the tigers also showed a significant difference in median activity time, shifting towards the night along with moderate diurnal activity at higher distances from villages. The tigers exhibited both crepuscular and nocturnal activity at close distances to villages. The movement range analyses of the tigers using camera traps showed the study area being used by 17 tigers, with 9 of them being adults (>3 years of age). Fixed Kernel Density home-range estimates of the two GPS-collared tigers showed a considerable proportion of their home range areas falling within village boundaries (10%) and an average of 16% of all GPS locations of the tigers fell within 0-100 metres from villages. Despite such high exploratory use of areas within and close distances to villages by sub-adults, there were relatively low incidences of conflict between the tigers and villagers in the study area. Finally, to assess the extent of risk and predict the probability of livestock depredation in the area, Generalized Linear Models were used. The best-fit model indicated a significant negative effect of distance to villages and highway to the probability of livestock depredation. Linear intrusions through highway and forest trails from villages allow easy access to livestock and herders for the utilization of the multi-use buffer areas of the Reserve as well as the tigers to come in proximity to settlements. Corralling of livestock in the night, avoiding free-ranging and grazing of livestock in the identified conflict hotspots, incentivization of alternate source of livelihood by strengthening the institutions such as Eco-Development Committees, along with continuous monitoring of tigers which range close to human settlements are discussed as some of the important measures which can be adopted to decrease the interfaces leading to tiger-human conflict in Panna Tiger Reserve.Item Response of Leopard (Panthera pardus fusca) in Varying Density of Tiger (Panthera tigris) in Rajaji National Park, Uttarakhand(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2015) Rathore, Harshvardhan Singh; Pandav, Bivash; Habib, BilalApex predators hold a special position in ecosystems due to their well known top down effects. Intra-guild competition is an integral process that affects population dynamics of large carnivores and may cause trophic cascades. In India tiger and leopard are two large sympatric felids undergoing intra-guild competition. The two co-exist by segregating in their spatial, temporal and dietary niche. Rajaji National Park (RNP) provides an ideal condition to study interaction amongst large predators. Following human settlements relocation in the past decade, the tiger . population has recovered in eastern RNP whereas due to lack of connectivity it has declined in western RNP. Thus, RNP provides a perfect ecological setup to study responses of leopard and prey in varying tiger density gradient. I assessed prey abundance in RNP using line transect based distance sampling using software Distance 6.2. Leopard and tiger density- were also estimated by using camera trap pictures on a capture- mark recapture framework using spatially explicit capture- recapture models. Spatial separation was seen between the two carnivores by using density surface models. Principal prey, prey selection and their dietary overlap was also assessed. High abundance of major prey was seen with the density of chital ranging from 23.61±9.21 Isq.km in eastern RNP to 21.77±4.32/sq.km in western RNP and sambar ranging from 10.61±3.21/sq.km in eastern RNP to 15.65±2.52/sq.km in western RNP. The density estimates of leopard were 29.01± 4.00/100 ~q.km and 25.37 ± 2.63/100 sq.km for the eastern and western sector respectively. The density estimates of tiger were 3.03±0.95/100 sq.km and 0.28±0.23/100 sq.km (only two tiger) for the eastern and western sector respectively. Leopard diet was primarily composed of chital in eastern RNP, in the western sector it was dominated by sambar. Chital was the principal prey species of tiger in RNP. Spatial separation was seen between tiger and leopard in both the sectors of the park with leopards clearly avoiding the high intensity usage areas of tigers. This study has created baseline data for predator and prey in RNP and would be helpful in managing the park better and for future monitoring.Item Estimating the Status and Impact of Hunting on Tiger Prey in Bardia National Park, Nepal(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2009) Malla, Sabita; Jhala, Y.V.; Qureshi, QamarA study was undertaken to understand the status of tiger prey species in relation to the hunting pressure in Bardia from November 2008 to April 2009. The prey densities were estimated using distance samplingItem Evaluating the importance of scale in estimating tiger populations(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2007) Contractor, Deep; Jhala, Y.V.; Qureshi, QamarPopulation estimation is one of the most important aspects of ecological studies as it plays a pivotal role in establishing priorities for species specific conservation and for delineating management practices. The tiger serves as a flagship and umbrella species for conservation efforts in the Indian subcontinent but, unfortunately wild tiger populations are on a drastic decline owing to factors like poaching, habitat fragmentation and degradation. In such a scenario reliable population estimates prove to be of vital importance. Camera trapping technique has been widely used for population estimation of cryptic carnivores including tigers. An attempt was made, through this study, to arrive at population and density estimates for Corbett NP through camera trapping technique following the mark recapture framework and answering some key questions regarding the importance of sampling effort required for arriving at such reliable estimates. A total of 7865 trap nights yielded 358 captures of 103 individual tigers within an intensively sampled area of (MCP) 420.86 km2. The estimated density of tiger was 16.01 (±1.6) per 100 km2 for RPSV, a new approach to calculate effectively sampled area. These estimates coincided with the estimates using full MMDM method. Also, the conventional method of using half MMDM seems to overestimate the density. The estimated sampling effort required for arriving at accurate and precise estimates of the true population in terms of sampling occasions amounted to 35 - 40 days. Evaluation of the influence of trap density revealed that high trap density (25 traps/km2 ca.) is required to get reliable estimates of population irrespective of the underlying population/density gradient.Item Evaluating Tiger (Panthera tigris) Population Estimation Approches in a High Density Area in Kanha Tiger Reserve(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2005) Sharma, Rishi Kumar; Jhala, Y.V.Reliable estimates of status and population trends are critical for the conservation of large terrestrial carnivores as they play an important role in evaluating effectiveness of conservation efforts and also provide benchmark data for future management decisions. Camera trapping technique have been widely used for population estimation of cryptic carnivores including tigers, but the issues regarding sampling design and effort required to effectively sample an area have been paid less attention. An attempt was made to deal with these issues in the present study. The use of intensive search effort for tiger density estimation was also evaluated. Over a 30- day survey period, 33 camera trap sites were sampled in Kanha meadows of the Kanha Tiger Reserve. A total sampling effort of 330 trap nights yielded 39 photocaptures of 12 individual tigers over 10 sampling occasions that effectively covered a 111-km2 area. The model M(o) fitted the capture history data well. The estimated capture probability/sample, p-hat = 0.22, resulted in an estimated population size and standard error (N(SE TV)) of 13 (1.19), and a density (D(SE Z))) of 11.71 (1.74)7100 km2. Camera spacing was found to considerably influence the population estimation. An increase in camera spacing from 1.5 to 2.5 km resulted in a loss of 35% (n=7) of photo captures which consequently decreased the precision of the estimates, though accuracy was not affected. A reduction in the trapping effort in terms of reduced trap nights resulted in lower level of precision though the accuracy of estimates was not affected. Increase in the camera spacing from 1 to 2 km with a decrease in the number of sampling occasions (six) resulted in the loss of 42% of photo captures (n=12) and loss of 25% of individual tigers (Mz+/=9) thus underestimating the true tiger population by 16% ((N(SE N)) being 10(1.84) The data also suggests that the photo-captures are not likely to generate abundance index for species other than tigers, since the cameras are placed to maximize tiger captures in space and time. My results suggest that a thorough reconnaissance survey is of utmost importance for camera trapping studies as it can help to maximize the capture probability of tigers and circumvent the sampling problems. The different statistical estimator’s viz. capture-recapture, jackknife and bootstrap did not show significant differences in the population estimation. Bootstrap estimator performed better than jackknife in terms of greater precision. The differences between the density estimates generated by “camera trapping” (D=l 1.71/100 km2, S.E.=1.74) and “intensive search effort” (0=12.74/100 km2, S.E.=2.27) for tigers were not significantly different. Our results suggest that “intensive search effort” for tigers if used within capture-recapture framework can be used to arrive at reliable population estimationItem Food habits of tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) in Sariska tiger reserve, Rajasthan(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2003) Avinandan, D.; Sankar, K.; Qureshi, QamarThe present study aims at understanding relationship between tiger and its prey in a semi arid tract. The study was conducted in Sariska tiger reserve, Rajasthan over a period of six months from November 2002 to April 2003. Density estimation of major wild and domestic prey species was done to assess availability to tigers in terms of density and biomass. The line transect method was used to estimation prey densityItem Habitat Occupancy by tiger Prey Species Across Anthropogenic Disturbance Regimes in Panna National Park, M.P.(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 1999) Mathai, Manu Verghese; Chundawat, R.S; Qureshi, QamarEffect of anthropogenic disturbance on habitat occupancy by tiger prey species was studied in Panna National Park, Madhya Pradesh. The study was conducted between November 1998 and April 1999. Line transect method and Pellet count technique were used to estimate abundance for all ungulates. Abundance estimates were used as a measure for intensity of habitat use by all species. The density estimates from line transects are associated with high coefficient of variation, which is largely a function of the small sample size resulting form extremely low densities. Ordination of habitat parameters grouped the transects based on habitat quality and structure, disturbance and topography. Anthropogenic disturbance was found to be an important factor, influencing habitat quality and differential use of habitats by animals. Sambar associated strongly with low disturbance hill habitats and poorly with relocated village sites and disturbed plateau transects. Indications from line transects and pellet count method concur in the case of sambar. Chital were very localised in their distribution being strongly restricted to secondary successional stages and ecotones between relocated village sites and woodland. Nilgai was a generalist in terms of habitat occupancy. In case of nilgai the two methods complement each other with the information they provide. The information from pellet-group counts was found to reflecting patterns that are not detected by direct sampling methods like line transects. Chinkara was strongly associated with the disturbed areas, largely because of its openness, but also found in the undisturbed areas. Wild pig, like nilgai, was a generalist, but showed preference for fringe areas of forest adjoining agricultural fields. Langur showed a marked preference for hill habitats and did not differentiate between disturbed and undisturbed hill habitats. Langur also showed the strongest association with water. The distribution of preferred prey, sambar and chital is localized. Nilgai, which is distributed throughout the study area, is found in habitats not favorable for tigers. Such a distribution would probably only support dispersing and transient animals. Therefore habitat management should be aimed at maintaining and expanding habitats suitable for cervids. Disturbance in the form of livestock grazing and woodcutting are largely responsible for maintaining poor habitat quality. The cause for these disturbances cannot be disconnected from the socio-economic and cultural reality of the people, both near and far, and therefore the conservation of the tiger has to address these aspects rather than restricting only to the biology of the animal.Item Food Habits of Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) in Pench National Park, Madhya Pradesh(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 1999) Biswas, Sayentan; Sankar, K.; Chundawat, R.S.Food habits of tiger was studied in a dry deciduous forest area in Pench National Park, Madhya Pradesh over a period of 6 months from November 1986 to April 1999. Density estimation of major prey species was done to assess availability to tigers. Line transect method was used for estimation of prey density. Scat analysis revealed that chital constituted the major part of is tiger prey followed by sambar and wild pig.