BackgroundThere is currently very little available research on the habitat suitability, the influence of infrastructure on distribution, and the extent and connectivity of habitat available to the wild Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Information related to the habitat is crucial for conservation of this species.MethodsIn this study, we identified suitable habitat for wild Asian elephants in the Western Terai region of Nepal using Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) software.ResultsOf 9,207 km2, we identified 3194.82 km2 as suitable habitat for wild Asian elephants in the study area. Approximately 40% of identified habitat occurs in existing protected areas. Most of these habitat patches are smaller than previous estimations of the species home range, and this may reduce the probability of the species continued survival in the study area. Proximity to roads was identified as the most important factor defining habitat suitability, with elephants preferring habitats far from roads.ConclusionsWe conclude that further habitat fragmentation in the study area can be reduced by avoiding the construction of new roads and connectivity between areas of existing suitable habitat can be increased through the identification and management of wildlife corridors between habitat patches.

The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) found in central Asia is classified as vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Every year, large number of livestock are killed by snow leopards in Nepal, leading to economic loss to local communities and making human-snow leopard conflict a major threat to snow leopard conservation. We conducted formal and informal stakeholder’s interviews to gather information related to livestock depredation with the aim to map the attack sites by the snow leopard. These sites were further validated by district forest office staffs to assess sources of bias. Attack sites older than 3 years were removed from the survey. We found 109 attack sites and visited all the sites for geo location purpose (GPS points of all unique sites were taken). We maintained at least a 100 m distance between attack locations to ensure that each attack location was unique, which resulted in 86 unique locations. A total of 235 km2 was used to define livestock depredation risk zone during this study. Using Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) modeling, we found that distance to livestock sheds, distance to paths, aspect, and distance to roads were major contributing factors to the snow leopard’s attacks. We identified 13.64 km2 as risk zone for livestock depredation from snow leopards in the study area. Furthermore, snow leopards preferred to attack livestock near livestock shelters, far from human paths and at moderate distance from motor roads. These identified attack zones should be managed both for snow leopard conservation and livestock protection in order to balance human livelihoods while protecting snow leopards and their habitats.

M o h a n A r y a l , S a r o j P a n tt h fi , M a n o j B h a tt a , T h a k u r P r a s a d M a g r a fi , A s h o k K um a r S h r e s tt h a , P u r a n B h a k tt a S h r e s tt h a & A j a y K a r k fi 2 6 D e c em b e r 2 0 1 6 | V o l . 8 | N o . 1 4 | P p . 9 6 3 8 -9 6 4 2 1 0 . 1 1 6 0 9 / j o tt . 2 2 0 5 . 8 . 1 4 . 9 6 3 8 -9 6 4 2 T h r e a tt e n e d T a x a A l l a r fi c l e s p u b l fi s h e d fi n tt h e J o u r n a l o f T h r e a tt e n e d T a x a a r e r e g fi s tt e r e d u n d e r C r e a fi v e C omm o n s A tt r fi b u fi o n 4 . 0 I n tt e r n afi o n a l L fi c e n s e u n l e s s o tt h e rw fi s e m e n fi o n e d . J o T T a l l ow s u n r e s tt r fi c tt e d u s e o f a r fi c l e s fi n a n y m e d fi um , r e p r o d u c fi o n a n d d fi s tt r fi b u fi o n b y p r o v fi d fi n g a d e q u a tt e c r e d fi tt tt o tt h e a u tt h o r s a n d tt h e s o u r c e o f p u b l fi c a fi o n .O P E N A C C E S S P a r tt n e r www . tt h r e a tt e n e d tt a x a . o r g I S S N 0 9 7 4 -7 9 0 7 ( O n l fi n e ) | I S S N 0 9 7 4 -7 8 9 3 ( P r fi n tt )T h e fi n tt e r n a fi o n a l j o u r n a l o f c o n s e r v a fi o n a n d tt a x o n om y J o u r n a l o f T h r e a tt e n e d T a x a P u b l fi s h e r / H o s tt Funding:No funding was available for this study. Conflict of Interest:The authors declare no competing interests. Acknowledgements: We thank Dr. Narendra Man Babu Pardhan of Bird Conservation of Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal, Dr. Naresh Subedi of National Trust for Nature Conservation, Lalitpur, Nepal and Mr. Mahendra Sapkota in terms of their support to carry out this study. We also thank Dr. Achyut Aryal (Sydney University, Australia) for his guidance in completing this study. OPEN ACCESSAbstract: The status and conservation of the Blue Bull Boselaphus tragocamelus is becoming one of the prominent discourses of wildlife research. The study was carried out along the Tinau River at Rupandehi District in western Nepal to ascertain the population status, distribution and potential threats to the Blue Bull. The study was conducted along six transect lines in the forest. A total of 40 Blue Bulls were recorded in different transects. The average group size was five. The average population density was 0.228 Blue Bulls per ha and the sex ratio was 1 male: 3 females. The potential threats of the Blue Bull along the Tinau River were habitat destruction, overgrazing, conflict, flooding and accident.

Population decline and extinction risk of river dolphins are primarily associated with flow alteration. Previous studies predominantly highlighted maintenance of adequate flow for low water seasons when habitats contract and the risk of local extinction escalates. Although river dolphins are sensitive to reduction in river flow, no studies quantify the relationships between flow and ecology of river dolphins to mitigate the potential adverse impacts of flow alteration. We quantify the relationships between flow and the ecology of river cetaceans concerning Ganges River dolphins (GRD; Platanista gangetica gangetica) usable area availability (AWS) for the low water season at wider flows (50–575 m3/s) at finer spatial and temporal scales. This study reveals that distribution of area usable to GRD is highly regulated by the adequate flow and river attributes (velocity and depth) interactions that likely offer energetically efficient modes of locomotion to GRD, suggesting the hydro-physical environment as a major determinant of river dolphin distribution and abundance. Flow and AWS relationships indicate that the flow during the dry season negatively contributed to AWS, whereas that of pre-monsoon maximized the AWS, suggesting that modifying flow regimes does alter in-stream habitats at varying spatial scales and may influence life-history strategies. Substantial fragmentation in suitable pool availability and loss of longitudinal connectivity exhibited by dry season flow suggested a higher risk of adverse biological effects during the dry season, which may reduce population viability by reducing survivorship and reproduction failure. Owing to river dolphins’ dependence on the attribute of freshwater flow, they can be expected to be more affected by flow regulations as interactive effects. Considering the seasonal effects and changes in the availability of usable areas by flow alteration, adopting effective habitat retention plans by water-based development projects appears critical to avoid further ecological risks in aquatic species conservation. Identifying priority riverscapes for river cetaceans and prioritizing investment opportunities is an essential first step towards effective riverine cetacean conservation.

Population decline and extinction risk of riverine cetaceans are primarily associated with flow alteration. Previous studies predominantly highlighted maintenance of adequate flow for low water seasons when habitats contract and the risk of local extinction escalates. Although riverine cetaceans are sensitive to reduction in river flow, no studies quantify the relationships between flow and ecology of riverine cetaceans to mitigate the potential adverse impacts of flow alteration. We quantify the relationships between flow and the ecology of river cetaceans with reference to Ganges River dolphins (GRD; Platanista gangetica gangetica) usable area availability (AWS) for the low water season at wider flows (50-575 m3/s) at finer spatial and temporal scales. This study reveals that distribution of usable area to GRD highly regulated by the adequate flow level as the interaction of appropriate velocity and depth at particular geomorphic that likely offer energetically efficient modes of locomotion to increase surfacing behavior efficiency, suggesting the hydro-physical environment as a major determinant of river cetaceans distribution and abundance. Flow and AWS relationships indicate that the flow during dry season negatively contributed to AWS, whereas that of pre-monsoon maximized the AWS, suggesting that modifying flow regimes does alter in-stream habitats at varying spatial scales and may influence life-history strategies. Substantial fragmentation in suitable pool availability and loss of longitudinal connectivity exhibited by dry season flow suggested a higher risk of adverse biological effects during the dry season, which may reduce population viability by reducing survivorship and reproduction failure. Owing to riverine cetaceans’ dependence on the attribute of freshwater flow, they can be expected to be more affected by flow regulations as interactive effects. Considering the seasonal effects and changes in the availability of usable areas by flow alteration, adopting effective habitat retention plans by water-based development projects appears critical to avoid further ecological risks in aquatic species conservation. Identifying priority riverscapes for river cetaceans and prioritizing investment opportunities is an essential first step towards effective riverine cetacean conservation.