Density and carrying capacity in the forgotten tigerland: Tigers in the understudied Nepalese Churia

Conservation of Tiger Panthera tigris in Nepal: a review of current efforts and challenges

The Tiger Panthera tigris is one of the most charismatic and well known Asian big cats. In the lowlands of Nepal, Tigers along with the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros Rhinoceros unicornis and the Asiatic Elephant Elephas maximus serve as flagship species gathering global conservation attention. Current surveys estimate a population of 235 tigers in Nepal. Tigers in Nepal are strictly protected in five protected areas located in the lowlands and their adjoining forest areas which cover 7,668.20 km2. However, over the last century, tiger population and their distribution range drastically declined with the species heading towards extinction. The long-term survival of this charismatic species is challenging largely due to the loss and fragmentation of habitat, climate change, increasing human-wildlife interface and poaching for illegal trade of body parts. In response to this, the Government of Nepal along with conservation agencies and local communities have proceeded to execute various conservation initiatives both at national and international level. This paper tries to scrutinize the current status of tiger population, conservation efforts, and existing challenges to conserve tiger species in Nepal. 

How Policy and Development Agencies Led to the Degradation of Indigenous Resources, Institutions, and Social-Ecological Systems in Nepal: Some Insights and Opinions

Rapid growth of environmental problems, economic volatilities, and social changes have increased the scopes of adopting environmentally friendly and resilient production systems. Regenerative farming and forestry practices are such systems appropriate for mountain communities in Nepal. They had performed better with indigenous resources, institutions, and social-ecological systems. Unfortunately, the assets have been degraded to extinction, mainly commencing works of national and international development agencies. Consequently, regenerative practices are disappearing. Despite appeals and commitments, the degradations of the assets are not halted and reversed. This study used secondary sources of data and work experiences and explained the working faults of the external agencies involved in the agriculture, forest, and wildlife sectors. It elucidated that most regenerative practices had sustained well in forest and farm resource-integrated production systems and a modest degree of natural and human inputs and production environments. The production environments degraded when the government agencies provided foreign agencies opportunities to be involved actively in policy formulation and implementation of agriculture and forestry-related sectors. The foreign agencies meddled in the national policies and community practices and modified the production environments for their interests and benefits. They intervened in policies and local communities to practice a farming system based on extremely human-made and imported inputs and institutions and to manage forest-related resources in extremely intact natural systems. In the policy discourses and decisions, the farming inputs, practices, and institutions popularly practiced in developed countries are considered superior whereas the indigenous ones are considered inferior. Agricultural plans and policies have overvalued yield, profit, or other direct returns and undervalued environmental friendliness, indirect economic benefits, and social advantages to prioritize support of the government and other agencies. The introduced farming inputs and institutions displaced or hampered the indigenous ones. The foreign agencies also meddled in forest policies and practices of the country to address environmental and economic problems of developed countries which resulted in adverse impacts on the indigenous assets. They intervened in the resource management policies with financial and technical inputs to destroy some of the assets and make the forest-related resource management that results in better benefits (offsetting GHG emission, enhancing tranquility and serenity of recreational sites, and potentially expanding agricultural markets) to the people of developed countries. This study has explained how the officials and experts of both government and foreign agencies abused and misused some strategic tactics and overused, poorly used and disused, others in their work process to address their self-centered interests and problems. In essence, intentional destructive interventions of the policy and development agencies have resulted in degradation to the extinction of the indigenous assets in the communities.

Leopard (Panthera pardus) occupancy in the Chure range of Nepal

Conservation of large carnivores such as leopards requires large and interconnected habitats. Despite the wide geographic range of the leopard globally, only 17% of their habitat is within protected areas. Leopards are widely distributed in Nepal, but their population status and occupancy are poorly understood. We carried out the sign-based leopard occupancy survey across the entire Chure range (~19,000 km2) to understand the habitat occupancy along with the covariates affecting their occupancy. Leopard signs were obtained from in 70 out of 223 grids surveyed, with a naïve leopard occupancy of 0.31. The model-averaged leopard occupancy was estimated to be 0.5732 (SE 0.0082) with a replication-level detection probability of 0.2554 (SE 0.1142). The top model shows the additive effect of wild boar, ruggedness, presence of livestock, and human population density positively affecting the leopard occupancy. The detection probability of leopard was higher outside the protected areas, less in the high NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) areas, and higher in the areas with livestock presence. The presence of wild boar was strong predictor of leopard occupancy followed by the presence of livestock, ruggedness, and human population density. Leopard occupancy was higher in west Chure (0.70 ± SE 0.047) having five protected areas compared with east Chure (0.46 ± SE 0.043) with no protected areas. Protected areas and prey species had positive influence on leopard occupancy in west Chure range. Similarly in the east Chure, the leopard occupancy increased with prey, NDVI, and terrain ruggedness. Enhanced law enforcement and mass awareness activities are necessary to reduce poaching/killing of wild ungulates and leopards in the Chure range to increase leopard occupancy. In addition, maintaining the sufficient natural prey base can contribute to minimize the livestock depredation and hence decrease the human-leopard conflict in the Chure range.

Managing Nature-Based Tourism in Protected Karst Area Based on Tourism Carrying Capacity Analysis

Nature-based tourism relies on the beauty of nature to maintain sustainability and attraction. However, karst environment is vulnerable to disturbance due to tourism activity. This study, therefore, aims to analyze the social, ecological, physical, real, and effective carrying capacity of Pattunuang Assue Nature Tourism Object, Bantimurung Bulusaraung National Park. Data were collected through field measurement, observation, and interviews. Data of visitors’ favorite spot and its size were measured through observation and field measurement. Visitors’ perceptions related to the destination, including their duration activities were collected through interviews. It was further collected by observing the various spots of activity, and measuring the area of restrictive factors such as physical (number of rainy days), biotic (vegetation diversity at tree level, the diversity of birds during the busy visiting hours, the initial period of the Tarsius fuscus’ birth). We also observe the equipment and infrastructure of the destination and collected data related to management through interviews with the managers. This study reveals various carrying capacity value which can be used as an option for the managers to choose the best way to manage destination in the right way. The result showed that particular activities exceeded carrying capacity but other activities far below their carrying capacity value. The study furthermore discusses how to deal with numerous activities. It also suggests an increase in the number of visitors by considering their ecological characteristics and management capacity.

Landscape variables affecting the Himalayan red panda Ailurus fulgens occupancy in wet season along the mountains in Nepal

The Himalayan red panda is an endangered mammal endemic to Eastern Himalayan and South Western China. Data deficiency often hinders understanding of their spatial distribution and habitat use, which is critical for species conservation planning. We used sign surveys covering the entire potential red panda habitat over 22,453 km² along the mid-hills and high mountains encompassing six conservation complexes in Nepal. To estimate red panda distribution using an occupancy framework, we walked 1,451 km along 446 sampled grid cells out of 4,631 grid cells in the wet season of 2016. We used single-species, single-season models to make inferences regarding covariates influencing detection and occupancy. We estimated the probability of detection and occupancy based on model-averaging techniques and drew predictive maps showing site-specific occupancy estimates. We observed red panda in 213 grid cells and found covariates such as elevation, distance to water sources, and bamboo cover influencing the occupancy. Red panda detection probability p^(SE) estimated at 0.70 (0.02). We estimated red panda site occupancy (sampled grid cells) and landscape occupancy (across the potential habitat) Ψ^(SE) at 0.48 (0.01) and 0.40 (0.02) respectively. The predictive map shows a site-specific variation in the spatial distribution of this arboreal species along the priority red panda conservation complexes. Data on their spatial distribution may serve as a baseline for future studies and are expected to aid in species conservation planning in priority conservation complexes.

Elephant (Elephas maximus) temporal activity, distribution, and habitat use patterns on the tiger's forgotten trails across the seasonally dry, subtropical, hilly Churia forests of Nepal

Understanding spatial distribution, habitat use, and temporal activity patterns is important for species conservation planning. This information especially is crucial for mega herbivores like elephants as their ranging patterns encompass a myriad of habitats types. Churia habitat is geological fragile yet important for wildlife in Nepal and India. We used camera trapping and sign surveys covering 536 km2 of Churia and surrounding areas within Chitwan National Park. Across 152 trapping locations, we accumulated 2,097 trap nights in a 60-day survey during the winter season of 2010-11. We used a non-parametric kernel density function to analyze winter activity patterns of elephants detected in camera-traps. Additionally, we walked 643 km over 76 grid cells in two surveys (winter and summer) to estimate elephant distribution and intensity of habitat use using an occupancy framework. Multi-season models allowed us to make seasonal (winter versus summer) inferences regarding changes in habitat use based on covariates influencing use and detection. We photographed 25 mammalian species including elephants with calves with a trapping rate of 2.72 elephant photos events per 100 trap nights. Elephant winter activity pattern was found to be mainly nocturnal, with crepuscular peaks. Covariates such as normalized differential vegetation index and terrain ruggedness positively influenced elephant spatial distribution and habitat use patterns within the Churia habitat. We also found lower elephant habitat use ([Formula: see text]) of Churia in winter 0.51 (0.02) than in summer 0.57 (0.02). Elephants heavily used the eastern portion of Churia in both seasons (67-69%). Overall, Churia habitat, which is often ignored, clearly is used by elephants, with increases in summer use in the west and high use year-round in the east, and thus should no longer be neglected or forgotten in species conservation planning.

Ecological correlates of the spatial co-occurrence of sympatric mammalian carnivores worldwide

The composition of local mammalian carnivore communities has far-reaching effects on terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. To better understand how carnivore communities are structured, we analysed camera trap data for 108 087 trap days across 12 countries spanning five continents. We estimate local probabilities of co-occurrence among 768 species pairs from the order Carnivora and evaluate how shared ecological traits correlate with probabilities of co-occurrence. Within individual study areas, species pairs co-occurred more frequently than expected at random. Co-occurrence probabilities were greatest for species pairs that shared ecological traits including similar body size, temporal activity pattern and diet. However, co-occurrence decreased as compared to other species pairs when the pair included a large-bodied carnivore. Our results suggest that a combination of shared traits and top-down regulation by large carnivores shape local carnivore communities globally.

Population density estimates and conservation concern for clouded leopards Neofelis nebulosa, marbled cats Pardofelis marmorata and tigers Panthera tigris in Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary, Sagaing, Myanmar

The clouded leopard Neofelis nebulosa is a potent ambassador species for conservation, occurring from the Himalayan foothills eastwards to Indochina, between which Myanmar is a biogeographical land bridge. In Myanmar's Northern Forest Complex, the species co-occurs with the tiger Panthera tigris, leopard Panthera pardus, marbled cat Pardofelis marmorata, golden cat Catopuma temminckii and leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis. We deployed cameras within the Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary over 2 consecutive years. In 2014–2015 we deployed 82 camera stations around the Nam Pa Gon stream (Catchment 1) for 7,365 trap days. In 2015–2016 we deployed 80 camera stations around the Nam E Zu stream (Catchment 2) for 7,192 trap days. In Catchment 1 we identified five tigers from 26 detections, five clouded leopards from 41 detections (68 photographs) and 11 marbled cats from 13 detections. Using Bayesian-based spatial capture–recapture we estimated the densities of tigers and clouded leopards to be 0.81 ± SD 0.40 and 0.60 ± SD 0.24 individuals per 100 km2, respectively. In Catchment 2 we identified two tigers from three detections, nine clouded leopards from 55 detections and 12 marbled cats from 37 detections. Densities of clouded leopards and marbled cats were 3.05 ± SD 1.03 and 8.80 ± SD 2.06 individuals per 100 km2, respectively. These differences suggest that human activities, in particular gold mining, are affecting felid populations, and these are a paramount concern in Htamanthi. We demonstrate the importance of Htamanthi within the Northern Forest Complex and highlight the Yawbawmee corridor as a candidate for protection.

Tigers in the Terai: Strong evidence for meta-population dynamics contributing to tiger recovery and conservation in the Terai Arc Landscape

The source populations of tigers are mostly confined to protected areas, which are now becoming isolated. A landscape scale conservation strategy should strive to facilitate dispersal and survival of dispersing tigers by managing habitat corridors that enable tigers to traverse the matrix with minimal conflict. We present evidence for tiger dispersal along transboundary protected areas complexes in the Terai Arc Landscape, a priority tiger landscape in Nepal and India, by comparing camera trap data, and through population models applied to the long term camera trap data sets. The former showed that 11 individual tigers used the corridors that connected the transboundary protected areas. The estimated population growth rates using the minimum observed population size in two protected areas in Nepal, Bardia National Park and Suklaphanta National Park showed that the increases were higher than expected from growth rates due to in situ reproduction alone. These lines of evidence suggests that tigers are recolonizing Nepal's protected areas from India, after a period of population decline, and that the tiger populations in the transboundary protected areas complexes may be maintained as meta-population. Our results demonstrate the importance of adopting a landscape-scale approach to tiger conservation, especially to improve population recovery and long term population persistence.