Snow Leopard Survival Strategy - Panthera

large mammals, by offering habitat contiguity of about
3300 km 2 with three other protected areas in the region,
namely Nagarahole and Bandipur National Parks and
Wynaad Wildlife Sanctuary through forest corridors
between the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats forests.
The habitat linkage is crucial for large ranging animals
such as elephants, which use these forest corridors for
migration. Livestock grazing, a major biotic interference
in forest corridors, originates from seven settlements
of the Masinagudi group of villages on the eastern and
the southeastern fringes of the sanctuary. Construction
of a series of hydroelectric power stations, numbering
about three at Singara, Marvakandy (Masinagudi) and
Moyar, around the Masinagudi villages caused a rapid
growth in human population (143% between 1961 and
1991), particularly the landless labourers and livestock.
Free grazing by about 15 000-17 000 resident as well as
migratory livestock every year in and around the forest
corridors, coupled with removal of cattle dung from the
forest floor, have adversely affected the forest regeneration
and helped proliferation of weed species such as Lantana
camara, Casia tora, C. occidentalis, Opuntia dillenii, and
Ageratum conyzoides. The annual fodder production
from the corridor forest could meet the demand of about
two-thirds of the resident population, while the crop
residues from the marginal agriculture could not support
the remaining one-third livestock population. In view of
such a situation, measures have been suggested to reduce
livestock population and implement the ecodevelopment
packages in order to ensure the corridor contiguity for the
long-term conservation of the elephant population.
Silveira, L., A. T.A. Jacomo and J. A. F. Diniz-Filho.
2003. Camera trap, line transect census and track
surveys: a comparative evaluation. Biological
Conservation 114(3):351-355.
Rapid faunal assessments can use different methods
depending on environmental conditions and costs. To
compare the efficiency of three methods in detecting
species richness and abundance, we tested them in the
grasslands of Emas National Park, central Brazil. Track
census was the most effective method for detecting
richness, followed by camera-trapping and direct faunal
counts. Track census reached an asymptote for number
of species after only 12 days, but all methods converged
on similar estimates of species richness after around 30
days. There was no significant spatial correlation for
species richness or total abundance, between camera
trap and tracks, across the 29 samples distributed in the
park. However, for some species, abundance showed
significant spatial correlation between methods. Also,
these rates were significantly correlated across species
and the spatial correlation between methods was
significantly associated with log-transformed body
mass across species. We conclude that, despite the high
initial costs for camera-trapping, this method is the most
appropriate for mammal inventory in all environmental
conditions, allowing a rapid assessment of wildlife
conservation status.
Silver, S. C., L. E. T. Ostro and L. K. Marsh. 2002. The
use of camera traps to estimate jaguar populations.
Presentation at 2002 Society for Conservation Biology
Annual Meeting, Canterbury, UK.
A major obstacle to developing an effective, range-wide
conservation strategy to protect jaguars (Panthera onca) is
an absence of robust, reproducible population estimates.
Occurring at low densities and being shy and secretive,
jaguar populations have been historically very difficult
to assess. Using a technique originally developed for
tiger populations, we installed 20 camera trap stations
sample an area of approximately 145 square kilometers
of tropical forest in the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife
Sanctuary, Belize. Using the distinctive markings to
identify individuals, we concluded that 11 jaguar were
photographed over the 59 day sampling period. Using
mark/recapture models for closed populations analyzed
by the CAPTURE program, we were able to estimate
the abundance of jaguar in the sampled area. The results
of this study indicate the photographic mark/recapture
technique designed for tigers can be adapted for other
felids. The technique enables biologists studying jaguar
to estimate population abundances and provide them
with information they need to promote conservation
actions based upon sound population information.
Smallwood, K. S. 1994. Trends in California mountain
lion populations. Southwestern Naturalist 39(1):67-72.
The status of the California mountain lion (Felis concolor
californica May) population has been controversial and
central to disputes regarding its management. Track
survey methods and transects were developed during
the 1980s to provide the only standard estimate of
mountain lion population trends in California. In 1992,
I repeated the 1986 statewide survey for mountain lion
track sets, in which a track set is any continuous trail
of tracks made by the same animal. Track set density
increased 313% in the mountains of southern California,
but they decreased 52% in northern California, and 61%
in areas where timber was removed since 1986. Most of
the areas preferred by resident mountain lions in 1986
were avoided in 1992 after they were clearcut. Whereas
residents preferred unharvested and non-forest areas
in 1992, track set densities of deer were the same with
or without timber loss. Mountain lion track set density
might have decreased due to degradation of habitat
quality other than prey availability, or it might have
decreased as part of a natural population cycle, which
is common among species of Carnivora. When this
decrease was added to the changes observed at three sites
monitored since 1980, the pattern resembled nearly one
complete cycle. Plans for management and research of
mountain lions should include the effects of habitat loss
and natural population dynamics.
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