2006-7 annual report - Nature Conservation Foundation

ter survey in Namdapha. In contrast, Pakke WLS where
there is less hunting and better protection, tiger signs
(pugmarks, scats) are commonly encountered. In addition,
there were no detections of large herbivore species
such as Asian elephant, gaur or serow.
We obtained an average of 23 mammal pictures
per 100 days in Namdapha. Barking deer was the
most abundant, followed by Stump-tailed macaque and
Himalayan crestless porcupine based on camera trapping
records in Namdapha. With the exception of Indian
muntjac and some smaller mammals, encounter rates
of the target species were far lower at Namdapha compared
to reports from other sites in south-east Asia,
while several larger species were not recorded at all in
Namdapha.
Trail walks, and systematic line transects are
used in many places to estimate animal densities. In
Namdapha National Park, however, over 23 trails totalling
an effort of roughly 42 km between 2005 and
2007, there was just one sighting of a terrestrial mammal:
barking deer was seen once and its calls were
heard on four occasions. The species encountered during
transects were arboreal mammals – four species
of squirrels and five species of primates (hoolock gibbon,
capped langur, Assamese macaque, stump-tailed
macaque and rhesus macaque) –hornbills, pheasants
and partridges. Due to very low numbers of sightings of
species, we summarize and report the encounter rates
(no. per km) of species groups (Table 3).
Pilot surveys in Namdapha from 2004-2005 and
prior work (only 17 detections in 740 km walked) suggested
that standard methods for density estimation of
ungulate species could not be used because of poor detectability
and low abundance of ungulates. The pellet
and track survey also established very low abundance
of ungulates in Namdapha. Five species of large ungulates
were detected in pellet and track plots, however,
only 35 pellet groups were detected in 22 of 387 plots.
While barking deer tracks were detected in 100% of the
sampled grids, sambar tracks were detected in 81% of
grids, wild pig in 50% of grids, gaur in 18% of grids and
serow in 5% of grids.
We chose the occupancy framework for generating
baselines of ungulate species that are targeted by
hunting for long-term monitoring of changes in occupancy
of ungulates in response to reduction in hunting
pressures. Occupancy analyses using pellet data and
covariate data on habitat and disturbance variables,
indicated that occupancy estimates were high for Indian
muntjac Muntiacus muntjak (1) and sambar Cervus
unicolor (0.8) and they seem to be unaffected by disturbance.
Occupancy estimates of gaur Bos gaurus (0.24)
and wild pig Sus scrofa (0.45) were low and they were
negatively affected by disturbance. The occupancy estimates
of all three large species that are important prey
of the tiger are low in comparison to a better protected
site in south-east Asia. Results indicate that even occupancy
models may have limited applicability in tracking
positive changes in the status of species (such as sambar
and barking deer) that are not abundant, yet are
widespread. Population estimation methods need to be
developed for terrestrial mammals that can be used to
track changes in population status.
We have mobilized the community in taking a
stand against hunting and effecting changes in hunting
levels. We also record instances of hunting activity
and evidences of hunting in Namdapha through direct
evidence or information from local project staff and
the community. Although hunting levels have declined
among the community, there are still instances of hunting
inside the Namdapha NP by a few from the community,
other tribes and outsiders coming in from neighbouring
Myanmar. We have suggested ways to involve
and employ the community in park protection to local
and national forest protection authorities.
Table 3. Encounter rates of faunal groups in Namdapha NP.
Species group Detections (encounter rate, no./km) Sightings (encounter rate, no./km)
Primates 28 (0.67) 19 (0.45)
Ungulates 4 (0.01) 1 (0.02)
Squirrels 14 (0.33) 15 (0.36)
Hornbills 13 (0.31) 7 (0.17)
Pheasants and partridges 7 (0.17) 5 (0.12)
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annual
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