Checklist of Mammals in Ikh Nart Nature Reserve

Abstract

We present a checklist of mammal species recorded in Ikh Nart Nature Reserve, Dornogobi Aimag from August 2004 to August 2007 to add to existing knowledge about mammal distribution in Mongolia. We recorded the presence of mammals through opportunistic observations and live captures as part of on-going research projects in the reserve. We recorded 33 mammal species representing seven orders, 15 families, and 28 genera. Rodentia (n=14 species) represented the most speciose order and Perissodactyla (n=1 species) the least speciose. Of mammals present, one third are classifi ed as IUCN threatened or near threatened in Mongolia, fi ve are listed in CITES appendices, and six are categorized as rare under the Mongolian Law on Fauna. Ikh Nart reserve harbors a quarter of the native mammal species known to occur in Mongolia, yet its size covers <0.05% of the country's land area. Given the high diversity, high proportion of declining species, and small land area of the reserve, we suggest that Ikh Nart should represent a priority area for mammal conservation efforts in Mongolia.

Mammal inventory in the Mongolian Gobi, with the southeasternmost&nbsp;documented record of the Snow Leopard, Panthera uncia (Schreber, 1775), in the country

“…Very little is known about the Eurasian Lynx in Mongolia and generally the data are collected within projects aimed to study the carnivore communities such as in Khustai National Park or in Ikh Nart Nature Reserve (Murdoch et al 2006). However, apart from a few occurrence data, no literature is available for studies conducted in Mongolia on the Eurasian Lynx.…”

“…The Mongolian mammal community is diverse, with 128 native species (Clark et al 2006, Murdoch et al 2006) belonging to 7 orders, as follows: Carnivora, Cetartiodactyla, Chiroptera, Eulipotyphla, Lagomorpha, Perissodactyla, and Rodentia (> 60 species) (Clark et al 2006, Murdoch et al 2006. Because the Mongolian faunal inventories are hardly available to a large audience (Lebedev et al 2016), with data often derived from broader studies (Murdoch et al 2006), an inventory of the mammal species would help fill the so-called Wallacean shortfall (Whittaker et al 2005, Lomolino et al 2010.…”

“…Given the lack of information on mammals in this region, there is an urgent need to generate an updated list of species (Murdoch et al 2006, Lebedev et al 2016. Our study reports the first inventory of non-volant mammal species obtained through camera trapping, live trapping, and direct observations in 2 areas within the South Gobi province, Mongolia.…”