Movement behavior of a solitary large carnivore within a hotspot of human-wildlife conflicts in India
Abstract With a rise in human induced changes to natural habitats, large predators are forced to share space and resources with people to coexist within multiple-use landscapes. Within such shared landscapes, co-occurrence of humans and predators often leads to human-carnivore conflicts and pose a s...
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2021-02-01
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-83262-5 |
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doaj-a28ccdeefdcf4377a1c02d8bdc639eae2021-02-21T12:33:29ZengNature Publishing GroupScientific Reports2045-23222021-02-0111111410.1038/s41598-021-83262-5Movement behavior of a solitary large carnivore within a hotspot of human-wildlife conflicts in IndiaDipanjan Naha0Suraj Kumar Dash1Caitlin Kupferman2James C. Beasley3Sambandam Sathyakumar4Department Endangered Species Management, Wildlife Institute of IndiaDepartment Endangered Species Management, Wildlife Institute of IndiaSavannah Research Ecology Laboratory, University of GeorgiaSavannah Research Ecology Laboratory, University of GeorgiaDepartment Endangered Species Management, Wildlife Institute of IndiaAbstract With a rise in human induced changes to natural habitats, large predators are forced to share space and resources with people to coexist within multiple-use landscapes. Within such shared landscapes, co-occurrence of humans and predators often leads to human-carnivore conflicts and pose a substantial challenge for biodiversity conservation. To better elucidate large carnivore space use within a hotspot of human-wildlife conflicts, we used GPS data for leopards (N = 6) to identify behavioral states and document spatial patterns of resource selection in response to season and human activity periods within a fragmented landscape of North Bengal, eastern India. We identified two major behavioral states (i.e. resting and travelling). From the resource selection models, we found leopards selected habitats with dense to moderate vegetation cover and proximity to water while resting and travelling within the landscape. During the dry season, when risk of human-leopard conflicts is highest, leopards selected tea plantations, forest patches but avoided protected areas. These results suggest a potential for increase in human-carnivore conflicts and a strategy to conserve large predators within multiple-use landscapes of South Asia.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-83262-5 |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Dipanjan Naha Suraj Kumar Dash Caitlin Kupferman James C. Beasley Sambandam Sathyakumar |
spellingShingle |
Dipanjan Naha Suraj Kumar Dash Caitlin Kupferman James C. Beasley Sambandam Sathyakumar Movement behavior of a solitary large carnivore within a hotspot of human-wildlife conflicts in India Scientific Reports |
author_facet |
Dipanjan Naha Suraj Kumar Dash Caitlin Kupferman James C. Beasley Sambandam Sathyakumar |
author_sort |
Dipanjan Naha |
title |
Movement behavior of a solitary large carnivore within a hotspot of human-wildlife conflicts in India |
title_short |
Movement behavior of a solitary large carnivore within a hotspot of human-wildlife conflicts in India |
title_full |
Movement behavior of a solitary large carnivore within a hotspot of human-wildlife conflicts in India |
title_fullStr |
Movement behavior of a solitary large carnivore within a hotspot of human-wildlife conflicts in India |
title_full_unstemmed |
Movement behavior of a solitary large carnivore within a hotspot of human-wildlife conflicts in India |
title_sort |
movement behavior of a solitary large carnivore within a hotspot of human-wildlife conflicts in india |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
series |
Scientific Reports |
issn |
2045-2322 |
publishDate |
2021-02-01 |
description |
Abstract With a rise in human induced changes to natural habitats, large predators are forced to share space and resources with people to coexist within multiple-use landscapes. Within such shared landscapes, co-occurrence of humans and predators often leads to human-carnivore conflicts and pose a substantial challenge for biodiversity conservation. To better elucidate large carnivore space use within a hotspot of human-wildlife conflicts, we used GPS data for leopards (N = 6) to identify behavioral states and document spatial patterns of resource selection in response to season and human activity periods within a fragmented landscape of North Bengal, eastern India. We identified two major behavioral states (i.e. resting and travelling). From the resource selection models, we found leopards selected habitats with dense to moderate vegetation cover and proximity to water while resting and travelling within the landscape. During the dry season, when risk of human-leopard conflicts is highest, leopards selected tea plantations, forest patches but avoided protected areas. These results suggest a potential for increase in human-carnivore conflicts and a strategy to conserve large predators within multiple-use landscapes of South Asia. |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-83262-5 |
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