Current Science

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Evaluating a Survey Landscape for Tiger Abundance in the Confluence of the Western and Eastern Ghats


Affiliations
1 BRT Tiger Reserve, Karnataka Forest Department, Government of Karnataka, Chamarajanagara 571 127, India
2 Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysuru 570 002, India
 

Due to the current depleting trends in tiger population, range countries have committed to double tiger numbers by the year 2022. However, some areas, including source sites, across the range countries lack scientifically estimated tiger numbers both at the larger landscape and at the protected area level. Here we report a population of tigers, from Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve (BRTTR), using camera trap based capture-mark recapture in a spatially explicit likelihood and Bayesian analyses that yielded an estimate of ~55 tigers with a density of about 6.8 tigers/100 km2. BRTTR nestled in a larger tiger landscape, perhaps contributes dispersing individuals to the adjoining forests, calling for integrated monitoring and management efforts for the entire landscape. This data set could help in designing long-term, landscape level plans and outcomes.

Keywords

Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve, Camera Trapping, Capture–Recapture Method, Tiger.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Sanderson, E. W. et al., Setting priorities for the conservation and recovery of wild tigers: 2005–2015. The Technical Assessment, WCS, WWF, Smithsonian and NFWF-STF, Washington, DC, New York, 2006.

  • Dinerstein, E. et al., The fate of wild tigers. BioScience, 2007, 57, 508–514.

  • Goodrich, J. et al., Panthera tigris, 2015, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2015: e.T15955A50659951; http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T15955A50659951.en (accessed on 24 June 16).

  • Gratwicke, B., Seidensticker, J., Shrestha, M., Vermilye, K. and Birnbaum, M., Evaluating the performance of a decade of save the Tiger Fund’s investments to save the world’s last wild tigers. Environ. Conserv., 2007, 34, 255–265.

  • Bagley, F., Rhinoceros and tiger conservation fund. In Tigers of the World: The Science, Politics and Conservation of Panthera tigris (eds Tilson, R. and Nyhus, P. J.), Elsevier/Academic Press, Oxford, 2010, pp. 201–203.

  • Jhala, Y. V., Qureshi, Q., Gopal, R. and Sinha, P. R., Status of the tigers, co-predators, and prey in India, 2010. National Tiger Conservation Authority, Government of India, New Delhi and Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2011.

  • Jhala, Y. V., Qureshi, Q. and Gopal, R., The status of tigers in India 2014. National Tiger Conservation Authority-Government of India, New Delhi and Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2015.

  • Jhala, Y. V., Qureshi, Q. and Gopal, R. Status of tigers, copredators, and prey in India, 2015. National Tiger Conservation Authority – Government of India, New Delhi and Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2015.

  • Walston, J. et al., Bringing the tiger back from the brink – the six percent solution. PLoS Biol., 2010, 8, e1000485.

  • Karanth, K. U., Gopalaswamy, A. M., Kumar, N. S., Vaidyanathan, S., Nichols, J. D. and MacKenzie, D. I., Monitoring carnivore populations at the landscape scale: occupancy modelling of tigers from sign surveys. J. Appl. Econ., 2011, 48, 1048–1056.

  • Linkie, M., Chapron, G., Martyr, D. J., Holden, J. and Leader-Williams, N., Assessing the viability of tiger subpopulations in a fragmented landscape. J. Appl. Ecol., 2006, 43, 576–586.

  • Wibisono, H. T. et al., Population status of a cryptic top predator: an island-wide assessment of tigers in Sumatran rainforests. PLoS ONE, 2011, 6, e25931.

  • Global Tiger Initiative (GTI), Global Tiger Recovery Program, 2010–2022, World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011.

  • Sanderson, E. W. et al., Setting priorities for tiger conservation: 2005–2015. In Tigers of the World: The Science, Politics and Conservation of Panthera tigris (eds Tilson, R. and Nyhus, P. J.), Elsevier/Academic Press, Oxford, 2010, pp. 143–161.

  • Kumara, H. N., Rathnakumar, S., Sasi, R. and Singh, M., Conservation status of wild mammals in Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary, the Western Ghats, India. Curr. Sci., 2012, 103, 933–940.

  • National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), A protocol on phase-IV monitoring, Government of India, New Delhi, 2012.

  • Bolger, D. T., Morrison, T. A., Vance, B., Lee, D. and Farid, H., A computer-assisted system for photographic mark–recapture analysis. Methods Ecol. Evol., 2012, 3, 813–822.

  • Efford, M. G., Package ‘SECR’, 2015; https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/secr/index.html (accessed on 24 June 2016).

  • Gopalaswamy, A. M. et al., SPACECAP: An R package for estimating animal density using spatially explicit capture–recapture models, 2014; https://cran.rproject.org/web/packages/SPACECAP/index.html (accessed on 24 June 2016).

  • Royle, J. A., Karanth, K. U., Gopalaswamy, A. M. and Kumar, N. S., Bayesian inference in camera trapping studies for a class of spatial capture-recapture models. Ecology, 2009, 90, 3233–3244.

  • Karanth, K. U. and Nichols, J. D., Estimation of tiger densities in India using photographic captures and recaptures. Ecology, 1998, 8, 2852–2862.

  • Gubbi, S., Nagashettihalli, H., Kolekar, A., Poornesha, H. C., Reddy, V., Mumtaz, J. and Madhusudan, M. D., From intent to action: a case study for the expansion of tiger conservation from southern India. Glob. Ecol. Conserv., 2017, 9, 11–20.

  • Joshi, A. R. et al., Tracking changes and preventing loss in critical tiger habitat. Sci. Adv., 2016, 2:2, e1501675.


Abstract Views: 377

PDF Views: 95




  • Evaluating a Survey Landscape for Tiger Abundance in the Confluence of the Western and Eastern Ghats

Abstract Views: 377  |  PDF Views: 95

Authors

S. S. Lingaraja
BRT Tiger Reserve, Karnataka Forest Department, Government of Karnataka, Chamarajanagara 571 127, India
Swayam Chowdhary
BRT Tiger Reserve, Karnataka Forest Department, Government of Karnataka, Chamarajanagara 571 127, India
Rashmi Bhat
Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysuru 570 002, India
Sanjay Gubbi
Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysuru 570 002, India

Abstract


Due to the current depleting trends in tiger population, range countries have committed to double tiger numbers by the year 2022. However, some areas, including source sites, across the range countries lack scientifically estimated tiger numbers both at the larger landscape and at the protected area level. Here we report a population of tigers, from Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve (BRTTR), using camera trap based capture-mark recapture in a spatially explicit likelihood and Bayesian analyses that yielded an estimate of ~55 tigers with a density of about 6.8 tigers/100 km2. BRTTR nestled in a larger tiger landscape, perhaps contributes dispersing individuals to the adjoining forests, calling for integrated monitoring and management efforts for the entire landscape. This data set could help in designing long-term, landscape level plans and outcomes.

Keywords


Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve, Camera Trapping, Capture–Recapture Method, Tiger.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv113%2Fi09%2F1759-1763