Study on kill pattern of re-introduced tigers, demonstrating increased livestock preference in human dominated Sariska tiger reserve, India

Volume 5, Issue 2, April 2020     |     PP. 20-39      |     PDF (692 K)    |     Pub. Date: June 27, 2020
DOI:    223 Downloads     6489 Views  

Author(s)

Gobind Sagar Bhardwaj, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Aranya Bhawan, Rajasthan, India.
Gogul Selvi, Sariska Tiger Reserve, Alwar, India
Saket Agasti, Sariska Tiger Reserve, Alwar, India
Balaji Kari, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Mt Abu, Rajasthan, India
Hemant Singh, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Jhalawar, Rajasthan, India
Anand Kumar, Assistant Conservator of Forests, Nagour, Rajasthan, India
GV Reddy, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Rajasthan, India

Abstract
Based on individual tiger monitoring of all re-introduced tigers in Sariska Tiger Reserve for two years, from 2016 to 2018, tiger kill data was analysed for demonstrating prey preference by the tigers. The observation of maximum number of tiger kills of livestock (77%) followed by Sambar Rusa unicolor (13.6%), chital Axis axis (3.6%), blue bull Boselaphus tragocamelus (2.4%) and wild pig Sus scrofa (0.95%) demonstrates very high livestock to natural prey ratio (L/N=3.3) indicating abundance of livestock population inside the reserve. The substantial increase of prey preference for livestock from 19.4% in 2011 (Mondal et al. 2012) to 77% can be corroborated with high observed increasing trend (y= 23.5x-7.43) of the cases of ex gratia relief for cattle killing by tigers from 2011 to 2017. We viewed this as evidence of increasing livestock pressure inside the reserve.

Keywords
Human tiger conflict kill prey base dietary pattern

Cite this paper
Gobind Sagar Bhardwaj, Gogul Selvi, Saket Agasti, Balaji Kari, Hemant Singh, Anand Kumar, GV Reddy, Study on kill pattern of re-introduced tigers, demonstrating increased livestock preference in human dominated Sariska tiger reserve, India , SCIREA Journal of Biology. Volume 5, Issue 2, April 2020 | PP. 20-39.

References

[ 1 ] Bhardwaj, G.S. 2008. Tracking Tigers in Ranthambhore. Aureol Publishing, New Delhi.
[ 2 ] Bhardwaj, G.S. 2018. Sariska Tiger Reserve: A managerial approach to the problems of landscape. Indian Forester, 144 (10): 900-910, 2018
[ 3 ] Burnham, K.P., Anderson, D.R. & Laake, J.L. 1980. Estimation of density from line transect sampling of biological populations. Wildlife Monographs, no. 72, supplement to: The Journal of Wildlife Management 44. pp. 202.
[ 4 ] Biswas, S. and Sankar, K. 2002. Prey abundance and food habits of tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) in Pench National Park, Madhya Pradesh. J. Zool. Lond. (256), 411-420
[ 5 ] Curio, E. 1970. The Ethology of Predation. Zoophysiology and Ecology, vol. 7, Spinger, New York. NY, USA.
[ 6 ] Deat A., Mauget, R., Maurel, D. and Sempere, A. 1980. The automatic, continuous fixed audio tracking system of the Chize forest. In: C.J. Amlaner and D.W. Macdonald, (Eds.). A Hand Book on Biotelemetry and Radio-Tracking. Permagon Press, Oxford.
[ 7 ] Eric, M., Gese, E.M, Rongstad, O.J., Mytton, W.R. 2008. Home range and habitat use of coyotes in south eastern Colorado, J. of Wildl. Manage., 52 (4): 640-646.
[ 8 ] Griffiths, D. 1975. Prey availability and the food of predators, Ecology, 56, 1209–1214, 1975. View at Google Scholar
[ 9 ] Hurlbert, S.H. 1978. The measurement of niche overlap and some relatives. Ecology, 59:67–77.
[ 10 ] Jhala, Y.V., Mukherjee, S., Shah, N, Chauhan, K.S., Dave, C.V., Meena, V. & Banerjee, K. 2009. Home range and habitat preference of female lions (Panthera leo persica) in Gir forests, India Biodivers. Conserv., 18:3383–3394.
[ 11 ] Johnsingh, A.J.T. 1983. Large mammalian prey-predators in Bandipur. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, (80)1–57.
[ 12 ] Johnsingh, A.J.T. 1992. Prey selection in three large sympatric carnivores in Bandipur. Mammalia, 56 (4) pp. 517–526, 1992.
[ 13 ] Karanth, K.U. 1991. Ecology and management of tigers in tropical Asia. In : Maruyama, Bobek, B., Ono, Y., Regelin, W., Bartos, L., and Ratcliffe, R. (Ed.), Wildlife conservation: Present trends and perspectives for the 21st century. Japan wildlife research center, Tokyo, 156-159.
[ 14 ] Karanth, K.U. 1995. Estimating tiger Panthera tigris populations from camera-trap data using capture-recapture models. Biological Conservation, 71(3): 333–338. 
[ 15 ] Karanth , K.U. & Sunquist, M.E. 1995. Prey selection by tiger, leopard and dhole in tropical forests. Journal of Animal Ecology, 64:439–450.
[ 16 ] Karanth, K.U. & Sunquist, M.E. 2000. Behavioral correlates of predation by tiger (Panthera tigris), leopard (Panthera pardus) and dhole (Cuon alpinus) in Nagrahole, India. Journal of Zoology. London. 250:255–265.
[ 17 ] Karanth, K.U. 2003. Tiger ecology and the conservation in Indian sub-continent. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 169-189.
[ 18 ] Karanth, K.U., Nichols, J.D., Kumar, N.S., Link, W.A. and Hines, E. J. 2004. Tigers and their prey: Predicting carnivore densities from prey abundance. PNAS, 101: 4854–4858.
[ 19 ] Kelly, M.J., Noss, A.J., Bitetti, M.S., Maffei, L., Arispe, R.L., Paviolo, A., De Angelo, C.D. & Di Blanco, Y.E. 2008. Estimating puma density from camera trapping across three study sites: Bolivia, Argentina, and Belize. J. of Mammal, 89:408–418
[ 20 ] Kruuk H. 1972. The spotted Hyena. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
[ 21 ] Kumaraguru, A., Saravanamuthu, R., Brinda K. & Asokan, S. (2011) Prey preference of large carnivores in Anamalai Tiger reserve, India. European Journal of Wildlife Research, 57, 627–637.
[ 22 ] Levins R. 1968. Evolution in changing environments: some theoretical explorations. Princeton University press. 319 pp.
[ 23 ] Macdonald, D.W. and Amlaner, C.J. 1980. A practical guide to radio-tracking. In: C.J. Amlaner and D.W. Macdonald (Eds.). A hand book on biotelemetry and radio-tracking. Pergamon Press, Oxford.
[ 24 ] Melville, H.I.A.S. 2004. Behavioural Ecology of the Caracal in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, and its Impact on Adjacent Small Stock Production Units. M.Sc. Dissertation. Pretoria: University of Pretoria.
[ 25 ] Miquelle DG, Smirnov EN, Hornocker HG, Nikolaev IG, Matyushkin EN. 1996. Food habits of Amur tigers in Skhote-Alin Zapovednik and the Russian Far East and implications for conservation. Journal of Wildlife Research 1: 138–147.
[ 26 ] Mondal, K., Gupta, S. , Bhattacharjee, S., Qureshi, Q. and K. Sankar. (2012). Prey selection, food habits and dietary overlap between leopard Panthera pardus (Mammalia: Carnivora) and re-introduced tiger Panthera tigris (Mammalia: Carnivora) in a semi-arid forest of Sariska Tiger Reserve, Western India, Italian Journal of Zoology, 79:4, 607-616
[ 27 ] Mukherjee, S., Goyal, S.P. and Chellam, R. 1994. Standardisation of scat analysis techniques for leopards (Panthera pardus) in Gir National Park, Western India. Mammalia, 58: 139-143.
[ 28 ] Packer, C. 1986. The ecology of sociability in felids,” in Ecological Aspects of Social Evolution, D. I. Rubenstein and R. W. Wrangham, Eds., pp. 429–451, Princeton University Press, 1986. View at Google Scholar
[ 29 ] Pianka, E.R. 1973. The structure of lizard communities. Annual review of ecology and systematics, 4: 53–74.
[ 30 ] Pianka, E.R. 1981.Competition and niche theory,” in Theoretical Ecology, R. M. May, Ed., pp. 167–196, Blackwell Scientific, Oxford, UK, 2nd edition, 1981. View at Google Scholar
[ 31 ] Quigley, H.B., Koehler, G.M. & Hornocker, M.G. 1989. Dynamics of a mountain lion population in central Idaho over a 20–year period. In: Smith, R.H. (ed) Proceedings of the 3rd mountain lion workshop. The Wildlife Society, Arizona Chapter, Phoenix, p. 54.
[ 32 ] Ramesh,T., Snehalatha,V., Sankar, K. & Qureshi, Q. 2008. Food habits and prey selection of tiger and leopard in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu, India. Journal of Scientific Transactions in Environment and Technovation, 2:170–181.
[ 33 ] Reynolds, J.C. & Aebischer, N. J. 1991. Comparision and quantification of carnivore diet by faecal analysis: a critique, with recommendations, based on a study of the Fox Vulpes. Mammal Review, 21: 97-122
[ 34 ] Sankar, K. & Johnsingh, A.J.T. 2002. Food habits of tiger (Panthera tigris) and leopard (P. pardus) in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, India, as shown by scat analysis. Mammalia, 66(2):285-289.
[ 35 ] Sankar, K., Goyal, S.P. and Qureshi, Q. 2005. Assessment of status of tiger in Sariska Tiger Reserve Rajasthan. A Report submitted to the Project Tiger, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, New Delhi.
[ 36 ] Schaller, G. B. 1967. The Deer and the Tiger. A Study of Wildlife in India, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill, USA.
[ 37 ] Schaller, G.B. 1972. The Serengeti lion. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
[ 38 ] Seidensticker, J. 1997. Saving the Tiger. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 25: 6-17.
[ 39 ] J. Seidensticker, S. Christie, and P. Jackson, 1999. Eds., Riding the Tiger: Tiger Conservation in Human-Dominated Landscapes, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
[ 40 ] Sankar, K., Qureshi, Q., Nigam, P., Malik, PK., Sinha, PR., Mehrotra, RN., Gopal, R., Bhattacharjee, S., Mondal, K. and S. Gupta. 2010. Monitoring of reintroduced tigers in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Western India: Preliminary findings on home range, prey selection and food habits. J. Trop. Conserv. Sci., 3(3): 301-318
[ 41 ] Sankar. K., Nigam. P., Malik, P.K., Qureshi Q. and Bhattacharjee, S. (2013) Monitoring of Reintroduced Tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan. Technical report-1. July 2008-March 2013. Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. pp 141.
[ 42 ] Shekhawat, R.S. (2015). Tiger Conservation Plan of Sariska Tiger Reserve, 2015
[ 43 ] Shirbhate, M.V. 2007. Quantification of predation and incidence of parasitic infestation in Melghat Tiger Reserve with special reference to leopards (Panthera pardus). The Bioscan, 2 (1), 41–46.
[ 44 ] Sih, A., Crowley, P., McPeek, M., Petranka, J. & Strohmeier, K. 1985. Predation, competition, and prey communities: a review of field experiments.  Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 16: 269–311,
[ 45 ] Sih, A. & Christensen, B. 2001. Optimal diet theory: when does it work, and when and why does it fail? Animal Behaviour, 61(2): 379–390, 2001
[ 46 ] Smith, J.L.D., McDougal, C. & Sunquist, M.E. 1987a. Female land tenure system in tigers. In: Tilson, R.L. & Seal, U.S. (eds). Tigers of the world: the biology, bio-politics, management and conservation of an endangered species. Noyes Publications, Park Ridge, New Jersey, USA, pp. 97–109
[ 47 ] Smith, J.L.D. Wemmer, C. & Mishra, H. R. 1987b. A tiger geographic information system: the first step in a global conservation strategy. In: Tilson, R.L. & Seal, U.S. (eds). Tigers of the world: the biology, biopolitics, management and conservation of an endangered species. Noyes Publications, Park Ridge, New Jersey, USA, pp. 464–474.
[ 48 ] Stephens, D. W. & Krebs, J.R. 1987. Foraging Theory, Princeton University Press, Princeton, Mass, USA.
[ 49 ] Sunquist, M.E. 1981. The social organization of tigers (Panthera tigris) in Royal Chitwan National Park. Smithsonian contribution to zoology, 336: 1-98.
[ 50 ] Sunquist, M.E. & Sunquist, F. 1989. Ecological constraints on predation by large felids in Carnivore Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution, J. L. Gittleman, Ed., pp. 283–301, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA.
[ 51 ] Sunquist, M.E., Karanth, K.U. and Sunquist, F.C. 1999. Ecology, Behaviour and Resilience of the tiger and its conservation needs. In: Riding the Tiger, Tiger conversation in human dominated landscapes. (Seidensticker, J., Christie, S. and Jackson, P. (Ed.)). Cambridge University press. P. 5-18.
[ 52 ] Taylor, R. J. 1976. Value of clumping to prey and the evolutionary response of ambush predators. American Naturalist, 110, 13–29.
[ 53 ] Temple, S.A. 1987. Do predators always capture substandard individuals disproportionately from prey populations, Ecology, 68(3), 669–674.
[ 54 ] Trent, T.T. & Rongstad, O.J. 1974. Home range and survival of cottontail rabbits in Southwestern Wisconsin. J. of Wildl Manage, 38:459–472
[ 55 ] White, G. C. and Garrot, R. A. 1990. Analysis of radio tracking data. Academic Press.