A systematic scoping review of tiger conservation in the Terai Arc Landscape and Himalayas

Abstract

In the last decade the tiger Panthera tigris population in the Terai Arc Landscape and Himalayas has increased, while populations in other countries have remained below their conservation targets. Although there has been some research on tiger conservation in the Terai Arc Landscape and the Himalayas, scientists and managers have not catalogued and characterized tiger research in the region, with empirical findings scattered among disparate document types, journals and countries. Without a review of the tiger research in the Terai Arc Landscape and Himalayan region, it is difficult to analyse or change conservation policies, develop adaptation strategies, prioritize research, allocate resources or develop conservation strategies potentially employable elsewhere. We therefore conducted a systematic scoping review to identify focal research areas, the spatial and temporal distribution of study sites, general publication trends, the extent of empirical studies, and gaps in tiger conservation research in this region (which spans Bhutan, India and Nepal). Since 2000, 216 studies have been published on issues associated with tiger conservation in the Terai Arc Landscape and Himalayas, with an increasing number over time. Most empirical studies have focused on tiger habitat, ecology and conflicts in protected areas in the region's foothills. There are research gaps in high-altitude landscapes, social science investigations, conservation economics, and policy and institutional analyses.

Range-wide trends in tiger conservation landscapes, 2001 - 2020

“…India had the largest number of TCLs in a single country at 35 landscapes due to fragmentation of what was once a much more continuous habitat but also concerted conservation efforts (Aylward et al, 2022). Nepal had the fewest TCLs (1), but a critical one, the inter-connected and extensive Terai Arc TCL of flooded grasslands and riparian forests, shared with India (Biswas et al, 2020;Thapa et al, 2021;Yadav et al, 2022). Other TCLs representing a diversity of habitats are found in the Russian Far East, parts of Southeast Asia, and on the island of Sumatra, as described below.…”

Writing for conservation—a skill for life

“…For the first time, this issue of Oryx brings together the written work of CLP and Writing for Conservation alumni. The 10 articles are illustrative of the broad range of subjects that have attracted the critical attention of workshop participants, from species (titi monkeys: Costa-Araújo et al, 2022; Silva et al, 2022; sperm whales: Avila et al, 2022; frogs: Barata et al, 2022; tigers: Yadav et al 2022), to methods (arboreal camera trapping: Kaizer et al, 2022; using natural history collections to examine species richness: Aninta et al, 2022), the influence of rural–urban mobility on consumption of wild meat (Torres et al, 2022) and the response of mammals to tourism (Barcelos et al, 2022).…”