Grazing and Cutting Pressures on Ranthambhore National Park, Rajasthan, India

Berkmüller, Klaus; Mukherjee, Sujit; Mishra, Bidyut Kumar

doi:10.1017/s0376892900031908

Cited by 16 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…The low density of wild prey in our study area may partly explain the frequency of domestic livestock in the predators' diets (also see Karanth & Sunquist, 1995). Livestock were grazed in the forest, in numbers that may compete with wild ungulates (Berkmuller, Mukherhjee & Mishra, 1990; Mishra, 2001). The apparent lack of preference for cattle by all three predators raises the possibility that livestock depredation might be reduced if populations of wild prey were restored through better livestock management and habitat protection as elsewhere (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feeding habits and niche partitioning in a predator guild composed of tigers, leopards and dholes in a temperate ecosystem in central Bhutan

Wang

Macdonald

2009

Journal of Zoology

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We describe the food habits, niche overlap and prey preferences in a predator guild comprised of tigers Panthera tigris, leopards Panthera pardus and dholes Cuon alpinus in a mountainous region of central Bhutan. Scat analyses revealed that these predators consumed 11 different prey species including livestock and rodents, of which leopards consumed 11. The combined relative occurrence of the three species, sambar Cervus unicolor, muntjac Munticus muntjac and wild pig Sus scrofa, constituted 42.7, 33.7 and 71.1% of the tiger, leopard and dhole diets, respectively, while livestock comprised 44.5, 73.4 and 15.9% of the prey consumed, respectively. Regression equations from earlier feeding trials were used to estimate the relative biomass and the numbers of prey consumed. Results showed that sambar featured more frequently than did muntjac and wild pig in the diets of tiger, leopard and dhole and contributed more relative biomass than did muntjac and wild pig. Sambar, muntjac and wild pig together provided 36.9, 28 and 63.1% of the biomass consumed by tigers, leopards and dholes respectively. All else being equal, there was evidence that all three predators ate livestock less than might have been expected on the basis of the abundance and high biomass of this prey category in the area. There was a high dietary niche overlap between the predators (Pianka's overlap index of 0.58-0.92), with a greater overlap between the two felid species than between the felids and the canid. This study provides evidence of a substantial diet overlap among the three sympatric carnivores, and thus highlights the potential for high intra-guild competition among them, especially given the relatively low density of prey.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feeding habits and niche partitioning in a predator guild composed of tigers, leopards and dholes in a temperate ecosystem in central Bhutan

Wang

Macdonald

2009

Journal of Zoology

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“…But these practices may be underreported owing to the social stigma of doing something illegal. Illegal grazing practices have been reported in Ranthambhore National Park in India (Berkmuller et al 1990) and in Chitwan National Park (Sharma & Shaw 1993). One reason for such illegal grazing is that poorer households with insufficient agricultural lands are pushed to meet their resource needs on protected land.…”

Section: Fodder Availability Use and Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of grazing restrictions on livestock composition and husbandry practices in Madi Valley, Chitwan National Park, Nepal

2009

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SUMMARYLivestock grazing restrictions are a common practice in the protected areas of developing countries. Understanding the influence of these restrictions on livestock husbandry is critical because local people's livelihoods often depend on access to grazing lands and biodiversity conservation may be affected by grazing activities. Household surveys and government records were used to examine impacts of grazing restrictions on livestock composition and use of available forage resources in the Madi Valley of Chitwan National Park (Nepal) during early (1997) and late (2006) restriction policy periods. Households responded to grazing restrictions by reducing numbers of less productive cattle and high maintenance buffalo to offset forage demands, but there was no decrease in the number of goats. In 2006, average household fodder biomass (3.4 t yr−1) available from agricultural land was adequate for the average household livestock units (3.3 t yr−1) requirement. Although most households ‘stall fed’ livestock as an adjustment to the new policy, about 30% still depended on community forests and parklands for livestock rearing. Higher ‘stall feeding’ reduced grazing pressure and increased forest cover but demanded more fodder cutting, which has the potential to increase human/wildlife interactions, particularly with tigers in the buffer zone community forests.

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“…Oli, Taylor & Rogers, 1994;Saberwal et al, 1994;Mishra, 1997). Livestock grazing is a major problem in Ranthambhore (Berkmuller, Mukherjee & Mishra, 1990), with > 3000 heads of livestock residing in the core area itself (Jain, 2001). Active management can lead to reducing the dependence of predators on livestock over time, and pronounced shifts in predator diets have been reported (e.g.…”

Section: Conservation Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prey abundance and prey selection by tigers (Panthera tigris) in a semi‐arid, dry deciduous forest in western India

2003

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Food habits of tigers Panthera tigris in terms of prey abundance were studied in the semi-arid deciduous forests of Ranthambhore National Park, western India, between November 2000 and April 2001. Wild prey availability was assessed by line transects (n = 8) and prey selection by the tigers was determined from analysis of scats (n = 109). Compared to some other parts of the country, prey abundance was found to be high at 96.65 animals km − 2 . Chital Axis axis was the most abundant wild prey in the study area, followed by common langur Presbytis entellus, sambar Cervus unicolor, nilgai Boselaphus tragocamelus, wild pig Sus scrofa and chinkara Gazella bennetti. Chital (c. 31%) and sambar (c. 47%) constituted the bulk of the tigers' diet and were preferred prey. Nilgai and chinkara contributed minimally to the tigers' diet (c. 5-7% and < 1%, respectively) and were used less than their availability. Domestic livestock made up 10-12% of the tigers' diet. The average weight of an animal consumed was between 107 and 114 kg reflecting a preference for large prey. The analysis reveals that parts of Ranthambhore have high prey abundance, thus making it important for long-term tiger conservation. Despite the high prey abundance, tigers were still considerably dependent on domestic livestock, posing challenges for the park management to resolve potential areas of conflict.

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Grazing and Cutting Pressures on Ranthambhore National Park, Rajasthan, India

Cited by 16 publications

References 1 publication

Feeding habits and niche partitioning in a predator guild composed of tigers, leopards and dholes in a temperate ecosystem in central Bhutan

Feeding habits and niche partitioning in a predator guild composed of tigers, leopards and dholes in a temperate ecosystem in central Bhutan

Impact of grazing restrictions on livestock composition and husbandry practices in Madi Valley, Chitwan National Park, Nepal

Prey abundance and prey selection by tigers (Panthera tigris) in a semi‐arid, dry deciduous forest in western India

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