Volume 4, Issue 2 (6-2022)                   JAD 2022, 4(2): 97-109 | Back to browse issues page


XML Print


Download citation:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:

Mondal K, Chourasia P, Gupta S, Sankar K, Qureshi Q. Investigating resource selection of the Indian leopard Panthera pardus fusca (Meyer, 1794) in a tropical dry deciduous forest. JAD 2022; 4 (2) :97-109
URL: http://jad.lu.ac.ir/article-1-151-en.html
1- Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, Integrated Regional Office, 25, Subhash Road, Dehradun – 248001, Uttarakhand
2- Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun - 248001, Uttarakhand, India , pooja.wildlife@yahoo.in
3- Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun - 248001, Uttarakhand, India
4- Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty Post, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
Abstract:   (6940 Views)
In order to understand the generalist nature of leopards and whether they have any degree of specialization, a study on resource selection of the Indian Leopard (Panthera pardus fusca) was carried out in a tropical dry deciduous forest in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Western India from January 2007 to May 2011 with the use of camera trapping under the mark-recapture framework. Camera trapping was done in an intensive study area (230 km2) encompassing 200 camera locations on 85–130 occasions each year. In total, 40 Indian leopards were identified in the study area, of which seven individual leopards were selected for resource selection analysis. Resource selection by Indian leopards was investigated at two scales. First, habitat selection was studied using compositional analysis comparing habitat availability in the geographic range of all seven Indian leopards and utilization by the individual animals within it. The results showed that habitat selection was non-random (P< 0.001). The leopard’s preference of habitat selection was in the following order: Boswellia forest> Anogeissus forest> Acacia forest> Butea forest> Zizyphus forest> Barren land> Scrubland. Second, resource selection was studied through a generalized linear mixed-effect model (GLMM) comparing the resource availability and utilization in each leopard’s range. The results showed that leopards preferred Anogeissus dominated forest followed by Zizyphus mixed forest and scrubland. In addition, leopards preferred habitat with a higher encounter rate of sambar (Rusa unicolor) and chital (Axis axis) and to a lesser degree of use, habitat with a higher livestock encounter rate. The results revealed that Indian leopards showed a significant degree of preference for moderate to thick vegetation cover and wild prey species rather than areas with open forest types and domestic prey species.
Full-Text [PDF 4210 kb]   (2838 Downloads)    
Type of Study: Original Research Article | Subject: Ecological Diversity
Received: 2021/05/26 | Accepted: 2022/05/4 | Published: 2022/06/30

References
1. Aebischer, N. J., Peter, A. R., Robert, E. K., Robertson, P. A. and Kenward, R. E. (1993). Compositional analysis of habitat use from animal radio-tracking data. Ecology, 74 (5): 1313-1325. [DOI:10.2307/1940062]
2. Anderson, P., Turner, M. G., Forester, J. D., Zhu, J., Boyce, M. S., Beyer, H. and Stowell, L. (2005). Scale-dependent summer resource selection by reintroduced elk in Wisconsin, USA. Journal of Wildlife Management, 69 (1): 298-310. https://doi.org/10.2193/0022-541X(2005)069<0298:SSRSBR>2.0.CO;2 [DOI:10.2193/0022-541X(2005)0692.0.CO;2]
3. Arivazhagan, C., Arumugam, R. and Thiyagesan, K. (2007). Food habits of leopard (Panthera pardus fusca), dhole (Cuon alpinus) and striped hyaena (Hyaena hyaena) in a dry thorn forest of Southern India. Journal of Bombay Natural History Society, 104: 178-187.
4. Athreya, V. R., Thakur, S. S., Chaudhuri, S. and Belsare, A. V. (2004). A study of the man-leopard conflict in the Junnar Forest Division, Pune District, Maharashtra. Submitted to the Office of the Chief Wildlife Warden, Maharashtra State Forest Department, and the Wildlife Protection Society of India, New Delhi, India. 51 pp.
5. Bailey, T. N. (1993). The African Leopard: Ecology and behavior of a solitary felid. Columbia University Press, New York, USA. [DOI:10.7312/bail90198]
6. Barton, K. (2011). Multi-model inference. Program 'R'. Package 'MuMIn', version 1.7.7. http://MuMIn.r-forge.r-project.org/
7. Bates, D., Maechler, M. and Bolker, B. (2011). Linear mixed-effects models using S4 classes. Program 'R'. Package 'lme4', version 0.999375-42. http://lme4.r-forge.r-project.org/
8. Bothma, J. D. P. and Le Riche, E. A. N. (1986). Prey preference and hunting efficiency of the Kalahari Desert leopard, In: Miller, S. D. and Everett, D. D. (Eds.), Cats of the world: biology, conservation and management. National Wildlife Federation. Washington, DC. pp. 381-414.
9. Boyce, M. S. (2006). Scale for resource selection functions. Diversity and Distributions, 12: 269-276. [DOI:10.1111/j.1366-9516.2006.00243.x]
10. Breslow, N. E. and Clayton, D. G. (1993). Approximate inference in generalized linear mixed models. Journal of American Statistical Association, 88: 9-25. [DOI:10.1080/01621459.1993.10594284]
11. Champion, H. G. and Seth, S. K. (1968). A revised survey of forest types of India. Manager of Publications, Government of India, New Delhi, India. 404 pp.
12. Chauhan, D. S., Harihar, A., Goyal, S. P., Qureshi, Q., Lal, P. and Mathur, V. B. (2005). Estimating leopard population using camera traps in Sariska Tiger Reserve. Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, India, 23 pp.
13. Cooper, A. B. and Millspaugh, J. J. (1999). The application of discrete choice models to wildlife resource selection studies. Ecology, 80: 566-575. [DOI:10.1890/0012-9658(1999)080[0566:TAODCM]2.0.CO;2]
14. Daniel, J. C. (1996). The leopard in India- A natural history. Natraj Publishers, Dehradun, India.
15. Edgaonkar, A. (2008). Ecology of the Leopard (Panthera pardus fusca) in Satpura National Park and Bori Wildlife Sanctuary. Ph.D. thesis. Saurashtra University, Rajikot, India.
16. Edgaonkar, A. and Chellam, R. (2002). Food habit of the leopard, Panthera pardus, in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Maharashtra, India. Mammalia, 66: 353-360. [DOI:10.1515/mamm.2002.66.3.353]
17. Eisenberg, J. F. and Lockhart, M. C. (1972). An ecological reconnaissance of Wilpattu Park, Ceylon. Smithsoniun Contributions to Zoology. Smithsonian Institution Press Washington DC, USA 101, 1-118. [DOI:10.5479/si.00810282.101]
18. Fitzmaurice, A., Poudel, P., Offord-Woolley, S., Macdonald, D., Thapa, S., Lamichhane, B. R., Baral, A. and Yadav, B. P. (2021). Complex consequences of conservation success: Emerging human-tiger conflicts in Nepal. CatNews, 72.
19. Foreman, D. (1992). Developing a regional wilderness recovery plan. Wild Earth (special issue): The Wildlands Project Report. pp. 26-29.
20. Gopal, R. (2011). Fundamentals of wildlife management. Natraj Publishers, Dehradun, India. 668 pp.
21. Gupta, S. (2011). Ecology of small and medium sized carnivores in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan. Ph.D. thesis. Sourashtra University, Rajkot, India. 200 pp.
22. Harris, S., Cresswell, W. J., Forde, P. G., Trewhella, W. J., Woollard, T. and Wray, S. (1990). Home-range analysis using radio-tracking data- a review of problems and techniques particularly as applied to the study of mammals. Mammal Review, 20: 97-23. [DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2907.1990.tb00106.x]
23. Harrison, D. L. and Bates, J. J. (1991). The Mammals of Arabia, Second Edition. Harrison Zoological Museum, Seven Oaks, UK. 354 pp.
24. Hayward, M. W., Henschel, P., O'brien, J., Hofmeyr, M., Balme, G. and Kerley I. H. (2006). Prey preferences of the leopard (Panthera pardus). Journal of Zoology, 270: 298-313. [DOI:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00139.x]
25. Horne, J. S., Garton, E. O. and Rachlow, J. L. (2008). A synoptic model of animal space use: simultaneous estimation of home range, habitat selection, and inter/intra-specific relationships. Ecological Modeling, 214: 338-348. [DOI:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2008.02.042]
26. Johnson, D. H. (1980). The comparison of usage and availability measurements for evaluating resource preference. Ecology, 61: 65-71. [DOI:10.2307/1937156]
27. Kafle, K., Thanet, D. R., Poudel, P., Gautam, D., Thapa, G. and Bhatt, P. (2020). Status and conservation threats to large mammals of the Laljhadi Mohana Biological Corridor, Nepal. Journal of Animal Diversity, 2 (2): 16-33. [DOI:10.29252/JAD.2020.2.2.3]
28. Karanth, K. U. and Sunquist, M. E. (1995). Prey selection by tiger, leopard and dhole in tropical forests. Journal of Animal Ecology, 64: 439-450. [DOI:10.2307/5647]
29. Kenward, R. E. (1982). Techniques for monitoring the behaviour of Grey Squirrels by radio. Symposium of the Zoological Society of London, 49: 175-196.
30. Kenward, R. E. (1987). Wildlife radio tagging: equipment, field techniques and data analysis. Academic Press, Orlando, Florida, USA. 330 pp.
31. Leban, F. A. (1999). Resource selection for windows 1.00. Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, University of Idaho, Moscow. 226 pp.
32. Millspaugh, J. J., Nielson, R. M., Mcdonald, L., Marzluff, J. M., Gitzen, R. A., Rittenhouse, C. D., Hubbard, M. W. and Sheriff, S. L. (2006). Analysis of resource selection using utilization distributions. Journal of Wildlife Management, 70: 384-395. [DOI:10.2193/0022-541X(2006)70[384:AORSUU]2.0.CO;2]
33. Mondal, K. (2011). Ecology of leopard (Panthera pardus fusca) in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, India. Ph.D. thesis. Saurashtra Univeristy, Rajkot, India. 235 pp. [DOI:10.1515/mamm.2011.011]
34. Mondal, K., Bhattacharjee, S., Gupta, S., Sankar, K. and Qureshi, Q. (2013). Home range and resource selection of 'problem' leopards trans-located to forested habitat. Current Science, 105 (3): 338-345.
35. Mondal, K., Gupta, S., Bhattacharjee, S., Qureshi, Q. and Sankar, K. (2012b). Response of leopards to re‐introduced tigers in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Western India. International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation, 4 (5): 228-236. [DOI:10.5897/IJBC12.014]
36. Mondal, K., Gupta, S., Qureshi, Q. and Sankar, K. (2011). Prey selection and food habits of leopard (Panthera pardus fusca) in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, India. Mammalia, 75: 201-205. [DOI:10.1515/mamm.2011.011]
37. Mondal, K., Sankar, K., Qureshi, Q., Gupta, S. and Chourasia, P. (2012a). Estimation of population and survivorship of leopard Panthera pardus through photographic capture‐recapture sampling in Western India. World Journal of Zoology, 7 (1): 30-39.
38. Muckenhirn, N. A. and Eisenberg, J. F. (1971). Home ranges and predation of the Ceylon leopard, In: Eaton, R. L. (Ed.), The World's Cats: Ecology and Conservation. Volume 1. World Wildlife Safari, Winston, Oregon, Lion County Safari, Laguna Hills, California. pp. 142-175.
39. Neu, C. W., Beyers, C. R. and Peek, J. M. (1974). A technique for analysis of utilization-availability data. Journal of Wildlife Management, 38: 541-545. [DOI:10.2307/3800887]
40. Odden, M., Athreya, V., Rattan, S. and Linnell, J. D. C. (2014). Adaptable neighbours: movement patterns of GPS-Collared leopards in human dominated landscapes in India. PLoS ONE, 9 (11): e112044. [DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0112044]
41. Parish, T. and Kruuk, H. (1982). The uses of radio tracking combined with other techniques in studies of badger ecology in Scotland. Symposium of the Zoological Society of London, 49: 291-299.
42. Prater, S. H. (1980). The book of Indian animals. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay, India. 324 pp.
43. R Development Core Team (2008). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. ISBN 3-900051-07-0. http://www.R-project.org
44. Sankar, K. and 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: 285-289.
45. Sankar, K., Qureshi, Q., Mondal, K., Worah, D., Srivastava, T., Gupta, S. and Basu, S. (2009). Ecological studies in Sariska Tiger Reserve. Report submitted to National Tiger Conservation Authority, Government of India, New Delhi and Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun. 145 pp.
46. Schaller, G. B. (1967). The Deer and the Tiger. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. 368 pp.
47. Schaller, G. B. (1972). The Serengeti lion. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. 480 pp.
48. Seidensticker, J. (1976). On the ecological separation between tigers and leopards. Biotropica, 8: 25-234. [DOI:10.2307/2989714]
49. Seidensticker, J. and Lumpkin, S. (1991). Great Cats. Majestic creatures of the wild. Rodale Press, Inc., Pennsylvania, USA. 240 pp.
50. Siegel, S. (1956). Nonparametric statistics for the behavioral sciences. The University of California McGraw-Hill, New York, USA. 312 pp.
51. Soulé, M. E. (1985). What is conservation biology? A new synthetic discipline addresses the dynamics and problems of perturbed species, communities, and ecosystems. BioScience, 35: 727-734. [DOI:10.2307/1310054]
52. Stuart, C. T. (1981). Notes on the mammalian carnivores of the Cape Province, South Africa. Bontebok, 1: 1-58.
53. Sunquist, M. E. and Sunquist, F. (2002). Wild cats of the world. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. 462 pp. [DOI:10.7208/chicago/9780226518237.001.0001]
54. Turnbull-Kemp, P. (1967). The Leopard. Howard Tummins, Capetown. 268 pp.
55. Vanak, A. T. and Gompper, M. E. (2010). Multi-scale resource selection and spatial ecology of the Indian fox in a human-dominated dry grassland ecosystem. Journal of Zoology, 281: 140-148. [DOI:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2010.00690.x]
56. Williams, D. A. (1982). Extra-Binomial variation in Logistic Linear Models. Applied Statistics, 31: 144-148. [DOI:10.2307/2347977]

Add your comments about this article : Your username or Email:
CAPTCHA

Send email to the article author


Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

  | Journal of Animal Diversity

Designed & Developed by : Yektaweb