Movement behavior of a solitary large carnivore within a hotspot of human-wildlife conflicts in India

Naha, Dipanjan; Dash, Sukanta Kumar; Kupferman, Caitlin A.; Beasley, James C.; Sathyakumar, Sambandam

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-83262-5

Cited by 22 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…Our regular visits to stations to switch out camera batteries and SD cards and to collect bear hair may have altered movements by bears on our study site, which may have affected encounter histories and estimates of p and φ . Previous studies have shown that human recreation altered spatio‐temporal patterns of habitat use by wildlife (Dertain et al, 2021; Doherty et al, 2021; Naha et al, 2021), including bears (Coleman et al, 2013; Naves et al, 2001). Compared to demographic studies that use capture‐collar data and require daily trap checks, the degree of landscape impact by our study design was minimal.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating video and genetic data to estimate annual age‐structured apparent survival of American black bears

Reynolds‐Hogland¹,

Ramsey²,

Muench³

et al. 2022

Population Ecology

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Camera or genetic data are increasingly used to estimate wildlife abundance and density. We integrated video camera data with genetic data over 7 years to estimate annual age‐structured apparent survival of American black bears (Ursus americanus). We identified 70 individuals through meticulous scrutiny of 7531 video captures, cross‐referenced with 721 genetic captures from hair samples concurrently collected from stations in view of cameras. We used the Cormack–Jolly–Seber model in Program Mark to estimate annual age‐structured apparent survival for yearling males, yearling females, 2+ year‐old males, and 2+ year‐old females. We manually calculated cub survival. We compared parameter estimates based on combined video and genetic data with those based on only genetic data. Combining video and genetic data provided a means to test video‐based identification accuracy, which was highest for females (97%–100%). Annual apparent survival was highest for yearling females (φ = 0.92, SE = 0.07), followed by 2+ year‐old females (φ = 0.88, SE = 0.05), 2+ year‐old males (φ = 0.84, SE = 0.06), and yearling males (φ = 0.80, SE = 0.14). Annual cub survival (φ = 0.86, SE = 0.07) was likely biased because we could not account for mortality that occurred in‐den through early spring. Annual apparent survival and recapture probabilities derived from only genetic data were lower than those derived from combined video and genetic data. Our finding that noninvasive data can be used to estimate annual age‐structured apparent survival of a species with relatively indistinct traits is broadly relevant to wildlife research and conservation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating video and genetic data to estimate annual age‐structured apparent survival of American black bears

Reynolds‐Hogland¹,

Ramsey²,

Muench³

et al. 2022

Population Ecology

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“…A2 B and C). However, swamp deer showed temporal segregation with human, a behavioural strategy observed in other herbivores in human-dominated landscapes (Gaynor et al, 2018; Wilson et al, 2020; Naha et al, 2021). More radio-collaring and information from other areas in this landscape can substantiate the patterns found in this study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Waning grasslands: a quantitative temporal evaluation of the grassland habitats across human-dominated upper Gangetic Plains, north India

Paul

Saha

Nigam

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Grassland habitats currently face severe anthropogenic exploitations leading to cascading effects on the survival of grassland-dependent biodiversity globally, particularly in non-protected areas. Significant amount of such biodiversity-rich grasslands in India are found outside protected areas but lack quantitative information on their status. We evaluated the current and historical (30 years) status of the grasslands using a combination of intensive field surveys and GIS tools across one of the most fertile, human-dominated region: the upper Gangetic Plains of north India. On-ground mapping and visual classifications revealed 57% decline in grassland habitats between 1985 (418 km2) and 2015 (178km2), mostly driven by conversion to croplands (74% contribution). Radio-telemetry data from the largest endemic cervid swamp deer (n=2) showed grassland-dominated average home range (50% BBMM) size of 1.02 km2. The animals highly preferred these patches (average Ivlevs index- 0.85) and showed the highest temporal continuity (88%) compared to other LULC classes. Camera trapping within the core habitats suggests critical use of these patches as fawning/breeding grounds. Habitat suitability analysis indicates only ~18% of the entire area along the Ganges is suitable for swamp deer. Accurate mapping (86% accuracy) and characterization of four major grass species revealed a total 144.04 km2 vegetation area, dominated by Saccharum sp. (35%). We recommend protection and recovery of these critical grassland patches to maintain dynamic corridors and other appropriate management strategies involving multiple stakeholders to ensure survival of this critical ecosystem. Such evaluations, if spatially expanded, would be critical to restore this rapidly vanishing ecosystem worldwide.

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“…Four large carnivores, tigers (Panthera tigris), leopards (Panthera pardus), sloth bears (Melursus ursinus), and hyenas (Hyaena hyaena) that co-occur extensively across peninsular India exemplify such variations (Joshi et al, 2013;Chanchani et al, 2016;Majgaonkar et al, 2019;Thatte et al, 2020). Of these, both felines occur across a diverse array of habitats, from dense forests to more arid open woodlands and savannas where they occupy home-ranges from <10 to >2,000 km 2 (Simcharoen et al, 2008(Simcharoen et al, , 2014Grant, 2012;Chundawat et al, 2016;Hunter and Barrett, 2019;Naha et al, 2021). Though both felines achieve their highest densities in Protected Areas, they persist in many multi-use landscapes (Joshi et al, 2013;Chanchani et al, 2016;Karanth et al, 2020), including forests and agro-ecosystems, where the smaller leopard, with its wider dietary niche can sometimes occur at relatively high densities as well (Athreya et al, 2013;Stein et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing Carnivore Occurrence and Community Attitudes Towards Wildlife in a Multi-Use Arid Landscape Corridor

Kannan

Salaria

Khan

et al. 2022

Front. Conserv. Sci.

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Small population sizes, low densities, and large area requirements make large carnivores particularly sensitive to habitat degradation and land-use change. In fragmented landscapes, many protected areas cannot accommodate viable wildlife populations in themselves, which brings the surrounding human-dominated matrix that may extend wildlife habitats or serve as corridors into focus. Such areas are typically excluded from the conservation portfolio and are subject to rapid land -use change in many areas. This study investigates the occurrence of tigers, sloth bears, leopards and striped hyenas and assesses community use of natural resources and attitudes towards wildlife in a 3,384 km2 portion of semi-arid multiple-use landscape in Western India that also serves as an important wildlife corridor. This area abuts Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, a preeminent protected area in Western India. Sign surveys spanning 1,039.22 km of trails were conducted in 94, 36 km2 grids spanning agricultural land, forests and other land use types to collate information on wildlife occurrence and associated environmental and human factors. Analysis using occupancy models revealed that tiger and sloth bear occurrence probabilities (0.093 ± 0.05), and (0.13 ± 0.02) were considerably lower than those for leopards (0.72 ± 0.22) and striped hyenas (0.91 ± 0.08). Lack of sufficient cover and limited food availability renders these multiple-use habitats poorly suited for tigers and sloth bears, while leopards and hyenas are able to adapt better to multi-use areas. Concurrently, 66 villages were surveyed across the study landscape, where data on broad socio-economic attributes of communities and their attitudes towards wildlife were assessed through questionnaire surveys. More respondents expressed negative attitudes than positive attitudes which vary as a function of education levels, occupation and land holding sizes. Ongoing landscape transformation through mining, agricultural expansion, infrastructure development, and negative attitudes towards wildlife conservation among people living in the agricultural matrix threatens the long-term functionality of these corridors. Therefore, immediate measures are needed to develop and implement corridor conservation strategies and plans, with a focus on land use planning and human-wildlife conflict mitigation. In the absence of decisive and timely action, wildlife populations may increasingly get relegated to fragmented patches, jeopardising their persistence.

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Movement behavior of a solitary large carnivore within a hotspot of human-wildlife conflicts in India

Cited by 22 publications

References 66 publications

Integrating video and genetic data to estimate annual age‐structured apparent survival of American black bears

Integrating video and genetic data to estimate annual age‐structured apparent survival of American black bears

Waning grasslands: a quantitative temporal evaluation of the grassland habitats across human-dominated upper Gangetic Plains, north India

Assessing Carnivore Occurrence and Community Attitudes Towards Wildlife in a Multi-Use Arid Landscape Corridor

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