Not a cakewalk: Insights into movement of large carnivores in human dominated landscapes in India

Abstract

1.Large carnivore conservation is complex and remains a massive challenge across the world. Owing to their wide-ranging habits, large carnivores encounter various anthropogenic pressures which may potentially lead to conflict. Animal movement is linked with individual fitness as it is important for various biological processes. Therefore, studying how large carnivores adapt their movement to dynamic landscape conditions is vital for management and conservation policy. 2.We first quantified the movement parameters of four large carnivores in and outside protected-areas in India (tiger, leopard, dhole and wolf). We then tested the effects of human pressures like human density, road density and land use types on the movement of the species. Finally, we examined the configuration of core areas as a strategy to exploit human-dominated landscape. 3.Our findings suggest that the mean hourly displacement of 4 large carnivores differed across habitats. Mean displacement of large carnivores varied from 77.58m/h for leopards to 665.3m/h for wolves. Tigers outside PAs exhibited higher displacement as compared to tigers inside PAs. Displacement during day and night were significantly different for tigers inside and outside PAs (P=0.03), and wolf whereas no difference was found for leopard and dholes. The movement and ranging patterns of species outside PAs were influenced by anthropogenic factors such as human population, road network density, and landuse. All carnivores showed multiple areas of intensive use or cores in their home ranges. The range of the core area sizes was greater for species outside PAs (tiger and wolf) in human-altered landscapes. 4.Movement ecology of large carnivores has not been explored using such an exhaustive dataset in India. Our study attempts to extend theoretical concepts to applied management problems. This study can be a starting point for rigorous studies on interlinking animal movement and landscape management for large carnivore conservation and policy-making in the Anthropocene. BACKGROUND Across the globe, large carnivores are considered as the most charismatic yet vulnerable components of wild ecosystems (Miquelle et al., 2005). Positioned at the top of food chains, they influence all trophic levels thereby shaping entire ecosystems (Ripple et al., 2014). However, throughout their distributional range, large carnivore populations continue to decline rapidly due to anthropogenic pressures like habitat degradation and fragmentation, persecution, illicit commercial trade in body parts, depletion of wild prey and diseases (Weber & Rabinowitz, 1996).

Silencing the call of the wild – howling behaviour and responses of the wolf to Anthropocene in India

“…Vegetation is dense in most of the areas due to moderate and high rainfall. The Vidarbha region is a tiger hotspot and comprises many national parks and sanctuaries (Habib et al ., 2018). During our study, wolves were found mainly in the buffer of the national parks and sanctuaries.…”

Predicting negative human-tiger (Panthera tigris) interactions in mosaic landscapes around Dudhwa and Pilibhit tiger reserves in India

“…Consequently, the fringe areas of many tiger reserves are fraught with incidents of human-tiger conflicts, often leading to the retaliatory killing of tigers. Retaliatory killing and poaching for profit are the biggest threats to tigers in the country (Miquelle et al, 2005;Habib et al, 2017;Dhungana et al, 2018). Persistent conflicts between humans and tigers may also increase the risk of poaching, as people become antagonistic towards tigers, their habitats, and the management that works towards conserving them.…”