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CATS AND CAMERAS !
ESTIMATING LEOPARD CAT POPULATIONS IN INDIA USING SPATIAL CAPTURE-RECAPTURE MODELS!
ARJUN SRIVATHSA [email protected]!
Wildlife Conservation Society-India IN
TRO
DU
CTI
ON
BAC
KGRO
UN
D
AIMS
MET
HO
DS
MAT
ERIA
LS
Four wildlife reserves in Western Ghats!Bhadra | Nagarahole | Bandipur | BRT!
India Karnataka!
Camera Surveys!
562 Bhadra!Nagarahole!Bandipur!BRT!
Number of Traps!
RESULTS SPATIAL !
CAPTURE-RECAPTURE!
0.003 1.132!
BHADRA BRT
0.003 0.719!
8.99 cats / 100 km2 4.54 cats / 100 km2
NAGARAHOLE* & BANDIPUR*: <1 cat / 100 km2 ; 10 cats (5 in each)
IMPLICATIONS
INFE
REN
CE
INSI
GH
TS
Bhadra: 2500 mm!BRT: 1800 mm!!Nagarahole: 1500 mm!Bandipur: 1200 mm!
ANNUAL RAINFALL! LARGE CATS! SMALL CATS!
Bhadra BRT Nagarahole Bandipur!
20!
10!
0!Den
sity
(per
100
km
2 )!
Leopard cat Tiger+Leopard!
LEOPARD CATS PREFER WET AREAS! MESO-PREDATOR RELEASE! INTRA-GUILD SEGREGATION!
Jungle Cat!
Leopard Cat!
Rusty-spotted Cat!
LAR
GE
SCA
LE
FIN
E SC
ALE
SETTLEMENTS COFFEE PLANTATIONS SECONDARY FORESTS!
APPEAR TO FAVOUR HIGHER LOCAL DENSITIES OF LEOPARD CATS!
Range-wide distribution of two leopard cat sub-populations !Map adapted from Mukherjee et al. (2010)!
INDIA!
Estimate populations of leopard cats in India!
Examine variation across a habitat gradient!
Gauge long-term potential of wildlife reserves and human-modified landscapes to support!
viable populations of the leopard cat !
RESULTS
IMPLICATIONS IMPLICATIONS
Large-scale mining in the Western Ghats!
Road-kill of a leopard cat in the Western Ghats!
70 cats 22 cats*Sample size too low for analyses!
Western Ghats seem to support a healthy population!!
Habitat mosaics important for leopard cats to thrive!
Long-term monitoring crucial for conserving leopard cats!
Status re-assessment may be required for this sub-population!
Large-scale infrastructure/development a major threat!
Abundance of leopard cats in four reserves is ~100!
Wildlife Reserve!
Non-protected Forests!
Coffee Plantations!
Old Village Locations!Human Settlements!
Jungle cats & Rusty-spotted cats prefer dry areas!
Camera Traps!
Bhadra and BRT have higher annual rainfall! High Tiger+Leopard densities in Nagarahole & Bandipur!
Most studies of carnivores largely focus on big cats!
61% 61% of 36 species in Felidae are actually small cats!
Limited knowledge exists on Asian small cat populations!
The leopard cat is one such species; purportedly common,! currently listed as ‘Least Concern’ in the IUCN Red List!
Co-authors: Ravishankar Parameshwaran | Sushma Sharma | K. Ullas Karanth!Acknowledgements: State Forest Departments of Karnataka and Kerala | Department of Biotechnology (DBT) | Department of Science & Technology (DST) | Government of India! Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, New York, USA | Wildlife Conservation Society, India Program (Bangalore) | Centre for Wildlife Studies (Bangalore), India ! Devcharan Jathanna, N Samba Kumar, Krithi K Karanth, James D Nichols, Rahel Sollmann and Andy J Royle | Photograph credits: Kalyan Varma !
492 km2! 722 km2! 1201 km2! 540 km2!
Unique pelage patterns!