poster

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CATS AND CAMERAS
ARJUN SRIVATHSA INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND
ESTIMATING LEOPARD CAT POPULATIONS IN INDIA
USING SPATIAL CAPTURE-RECAPTURE MODELS!
[email protected]!
Wildlife Conservation Society-India
Most studies of carnivores largely focus on big cats!
61% 61% of 36 species in Felidae are actually small cats!
Estimate populations of leopard cats in India!
INDIA!
Examine variation across a habitat gradient!
Limited knowledge exists on Asian small cat populations!
Gauge long-term potential of wildlife reserves
and human-modified landscapes to support!
viable populations of the leopard cat !
The leopard cat is one such species; purportedly common,!
currently listed as ‘Least Concern’ in the IUCN Red List!
AIMS Range-wide distribution of two leopard cat sub-populations !
Map adapted from Mukherjee et al. (2010)!
BRT BHADRA Four wildlife reserves in Western Ghats!
Bhadra | Nagarahole | Bandipur | BRT!
METHODS
MATERIALS
492 km2!
India
722 km2!
1201 km2!
540 km2!
Karnataka!
562 Camera Surveys!
Number of Traps!
Bhadra!
Nagarahole!
Bandipur!
BRT!
0.003
SPATIAL !
CAPTURE-RECAPTURE!
RESULTS ANNUAL RAINFALL!
Leopard cat
Bhadra: 2500 mm!
BRT: 1800 mm!
!Nagarahole: 1500 mm!
Bandipur: 1200 mm!
Old Village Locations!
Non-protected Forests!
Human Settlements!
Coffee Plantations!
Camera Traps!
0.003
1.132!
0.719!
8.99 cats / 100 km2
4.54 cats / 100 km2
70 cats
22 cats
NAGARAHOLE* & BANDIPUR*: <1 cat / 100 km2 ; 10 cats (5 in each) *Sample size too low for analyses!
SMALL CATS!
LARGE CATS!
Density (per 100 km2)!
LARGE SCALE FINE SCALE INFERENCE
INSIGHTS
Unique pelage patterns!
Wildlife Reserve!
Tiger+Leopard!
Jungle Cat!
20!
Leopard Cat!
Abundance of leopard cats in four reserves is ~100!
10!
Rusty-spotted Cat!
0!
Bhadra
BRT
Nagarahole
Western Ghats seem to support a healthy population!
Bandipur!
LEOPARD CATS PREFER WET AREAS!
MESO-PREDATOR RELEASE!
INTRA-GUILD SEGREGATION!
Bhadra and BRT have higher annual rainfall!
High Tiger+Leopard densities in Nagarahole & Bandipur!
Jungle cats & Rusty-spotted cats prefer dry areas!
!
Large-scale mining in the Western Ghats!
Habitat mosaics important for leopard cats to thrive!
Large-scale infrastructure/development a major threat!
Long-term monitoring crucial for conserving leopard cats!
SETTLEMENTS
COFFEE PLANTATIONS
SECONDARY FORESTS!
APPEAR TO FAVOUR HIGHER LOCAL DENSITIES OF LEOPARD CATS!
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 !
IMPLICATIONS Status re-assessment may be required for this sub-population!
Road-kill of a leopard cat in the Western Ghats!