Leopard<i>Panthera pardus fusca</i>Density in the Seasonally Dry, Subtropical Forest in the Bhabhar of Terai Arc, Nepal

Thapa, Kanchan; Shrestha, Rinjan; Karki, Jhamak Bahadur; Thapa, Gokarna Jung; Subedi, Naresh; Pradhan, Narendra Man Babu; Dhakal, Maheshwar; Khanal, Pradeep; Kelly, Marcella J.

doi:10.1155/2014/286949

Cited by 37 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Camera-trapping techniques using a capture-recapture framework (O'Connell et al 2010) have proven very effective in estimating population size and density of elusive and cryptic large carnivores such as tigers (Panthera tigris) in India (Karanth 1995;Karanth and Nichols 1998) and Sumatra (Sunarto et al 2013), jaguars (Panthera onca) in Belize (Silver et al 2004) and Brazil (Silveira et al 2010), and leopards (Panthera pardus) in Nepal (Thapa et al 2014) and South Africa (Balme et al 2009). Camera trapping for carnivores, especially felids, is now widely used for abundance and density estimation and greatly improves our understanding of wildlife population status (Meek et al 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential for camera-traps and spatial mark-resight models to improve monitoring of the critically endangered West African lion (Panthera leo)

2015

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West African lions are critically endangered throughout their range. Recent monitoring efforts focused on determining where remaining populations persist and obtaining preliminary population estimates to assess status across the region. However, current monitoring methods do not result in estimates that can be easily compared across sites or over time. Thus, there is a need to develop methods that allow for unbiased and precise comparable population parameter estimates for baseline and long-term monitoring. Spatial mark-resight models offer the ability to estimate lion density for a site over a standardized unit of area making estimates comparable. In addition, Bayesian inference is not constrained by asymptotic assumptions and allows for unbiased and precise estimates even with small sample sizes and low detection rates. We demonstrate the utility of Bayesian inference of a spatial mark-resight model for West African lion populations using a single-season camera trap survey at a study site in Niokolo-Koba National Park, Senegal. We estimated a site specific density of 3.02 lions/100 km 2 (1.72-5.57/100 km 2 ) based on trap-specific relocations of individuals with unique identifying natural marks, and counts of unmarked individuals at each trap. We conclude with a discussion of limitations of the current study and possible improvements on this method. We suggest immediate action including site specific monitoring within protected areas to conserve lions in this most northern part of their range. This monitoring approach can provide useful estimates over Communicated by Dirk Sven Schmeller.Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (large areas providing an easily implemented and repeatable methodology for local and regional monitoring of critically endangered lion populations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential for camera-traps and spatial mark-resight models to improve monitoring of the critically endangered West African lion (Panthera leo)

2015

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“…Tiger and leopard photographs obtained in camera-traps were systematically sorted in separate folders. Paired camera-traps at each sampling point obtained photos of both flanks of tigers and leopards in most of the events (~ 80%) which enabled us to identify individuals accurately based on their coat marking patterns (Karanth and Nicholas 1998;Thapa et al 2014). Because paired cameras operated independently, ~ 20% of capture events were composed of photos of a single flank.…”

Section: Camera-trap Surveymentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors associated with co-occurrence of large carnivores in a human-dominated landscape

et al. 2019

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We investigated the factors facilitating co-occurrence of two large carnivores, tigers (Panthera tigris) and common leopards (Panthera pardus), within a human-dominated landscape. We estimated their density and population size using camera-trap photographs and examined spatial segregation of habitats, temporal activity pattern, and diets in Chitwan National Park, Nepal. A Bayesian spatially-explicit capture-recapture model estimated densities of 3.2-4.6 (3.94 ± 0.37) tigers and 2.6-4.1 (3.31 ± 0.4) leopards per 100 km 2 with abundance of 70-102 tigers and 66-105 leopards. Tigers occupied the prime habitats (grasslands and riverine forests) in alluvial floodplains of the Park whereas leopards appeared in Sal forests and marginal areas where livestock are present. Both tigers and leopards showed crepuscular activity patterns with a high overlap but tigers were less active during the day compared to leopards. Leopards' activity in the day increased in the presence of tigers. Tiger and leopard diet overlapped considerably (90%). Compared to leopards, tigers consumed a higher proportion of the large prey and a smaller proportion of livestock. Our study demonstrates that sympatric large carnivores can coexist in high densities in prey rich areas that contain a mosaics of habitats. To increase the resilience and size of the Chitwan carnivore population, strategies are needed to increase prey biomass and prevent livestock depredation in adjacent forests. Long-term monitoring is also required to obtain a detailed understanding of the interaction between the large carnivores and their effects on local communities living in forest fringes within the landscape.

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“…Churia habitat is adjacent to a southern valley with a human population density of 440 per km 2 (CBS 2011). The Churia habitat is the main corridor joining the Valmiki Tiger Reserve in India and the Parsa Wildlife Reserve in the east to form a Tiger Conservation Landscape (TCL) (Wikramanayake et al 2004) known as Chitwan-Valmiki-Parsa Tiger Landscape (Chanchani et al 2014b;Thapa et al 2014).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Density and carrying capacity in the forgotten tigerland: Tigers in the understudied Nepalese Churia

Thapa

Kelly

2017

Integrative Zoology

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While there are numerous wildlife ecology studies in lowland areas of Nepal, there are no in-depth studies of the hilly Churia habitat even though it comprises 7642 km of potential wildlife habitat across the Terai Arc. We investigated tiger, leopard and prey densities across this understudied habitat. Our camera trapping survey covered 536 km of Churia and surrounding areas within Chitwan National Park (CNP). We used 161 trapping locations and accumulated 2097 trap-nights in a 60-day survey period during the winter season of 2010-2011. In addition, we walked 136 km over 81 different line transects using distance sampling to estimate prey density. We photographed 31 individual tigers, 28 individual leopards and 25 other mammalian species. Spatial capture-recapture methods resulted in lower density estimates for tigers, ranging from 2.3 to 2.9 tigers per 100 km , than for leopards, which ranged from 3.3 to 5.1 leopards per 100 km . In addition, leopard densities were higher in the core of the Churia compared to surrounding areas. We estimated 62.7 prey animals per 100 km with forest ungulate prey (sambar, chital, barking deer and wild pig), accounting for 47% of the total. Based on prey availability, Churia habitat within CNP could potentially support 5.86 tigers per 100 km but our density estimates were lower, perhaps indicating that the tiger population is below carrying capacity. Our results demonstrate that Churia habitat should not be ignored in conservation initiatives, but rather management efforts should focus on reducing human disturbance to support higher predator numbers.

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LeopardPanthera pardus fuscaDensity in the Seasonally Dry, Subtropical Forest in the Bhabhar of Terai Arc, Nepal

Cited by 37 publications

References 68 publications

Potential for camera-traps and spatial mark-resight models to improve monitoring of the critically endangered West African lion (Panthera leo)

Potential for camera-traps and spatial mark-resight models to improve monitoring of the critically endangered West African lion (Panthera leo)

Factors associated with co-occurrence of large carnivores in a human-dominated landscape

Density and carrying capacity in the forgotten tigerland: Tigers in the understudied Nepalese Churia

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