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    Ecology of clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) in an East Himalayan Biodiversity Hotspot - Carnivore Co-existence in Manas National Park, Assam, India
    (Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2021) Lyngdoh, Salvador; Habib, Bilal; Bhatt, Urjit
    Sympatric species occupying similar niche can result in competitive exclusion of subordinate species. However, species are able to avoid interspecific competition through morphological, physiological, or behavioural trade-offs, which in turn leads to differences in resource use. A guild of wild species of Felidae comprising various combinations of up to eight species is distributed across South-east Asia, with species ranging in size from the tiger (Panthera tigris) to the flat-headed cat (Prionailurus planiceps). Little is known of the ecology of most of these species, and less of their guilds. Large felids such as tigers and leopards coexist in most of their ranges. The sympatric association of such large cats has been studied and debated in most tropical forests of India. The clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), a potent ambassador species for conservation, is among the least known. The clouded leopard is the smallest of the large felids and is least studied due to its secretive nature and nocturnal behaviour. The species is an umbrella species for the Asian forest ecosystem and can be found along the foothills of the Himalayas through Nepal, Bhutan, and India to South China down to Peninsular Malaysia, and on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. The clouded leopard is vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and faces a global decline in population and contraction in its geographic range. The species occupies areas undergoing some of the most rapid deforestations and is threatened by poaching and wildlife trafficking. Clouded leopards are apex predators in many Southeast Asian rainforests, although they cooccur with larger predators such as tigers, leopards, dholes; their density, activity, and habitat use may vary. Although there have been discoveries regarding the felid guilds and habitat use of the Sunda clouded leopard, and the threat to the species from habitat loss, little is known for the mainland clouded leopard and the felids with which it is sympatric. Despite the fact that tropical rainforests are known for its high biodiversity and species richness, the scarcity and/or the cryptic behaviour of some of the species have resulted in the scarcity of information about these species. The tendency of many rainforest species to avoid humans on existing tracks (where most transect surveys are done) is well known. These conventional methods include surveys on the footprints, dung, calls, live-trapping, den counts and direct observation. All these surveys are usually performed along transects, and in the past, they were the preferred method in various countries. However, walking along transects to observe terrestrial mammals in tropical rainforests can be extremely challenging. The observers' different abilities to detect and recognize the species may lead to a bias during data collection, increasing the likelihood of animals fleeing unobserved. Presence-absence survey using transects lines or logging tracks may not yield substantial evidence of species diversity. Thus, if any survey were to be conducted without considering these factors, most wildlife surveys could expect a biased trend. In a dense tropical rainforest, camera-traps are useful to detect cryptic species, estimating species diversity, movement, interactions, habitat associations, abundances using individual recognition and, recently, without individual recognition in various countries. A good image from the camera trap is indisputable regarding a certain species' presence compared to an interview or conventional survey methods. The utilization of camera-traps has revealed the presence of secretive rainforest dwelling species, which have been overlooked by applying the traditional transect surveys. In India, this method has been used in estimating densities and abundances of various carnivore species in several protected areas, but few attempts have so far been made in the dense forests of tropical evergreen habitats of the north-eastern part. The use of camera trapping rate as an index of abundance is both promising and cost-effective for the rapid assessment of animal abundance in remote areas or where alternative methods are unfeasible.The study was conducted in tropical semi-evergreen forests of Manas National Park (MNP), Assam, India. The objectives of the study were to (1) estimate the status of clouded leopard and other carnivores, (2) assess prey status and feeding ecology of clouded leopard, and (3) determine the factors governing coexistence of carnivores.