mammalian fauna of the chagai desert and adjoining areas

Mammalian fauna: Chaghai desert 20Degradation of natural habitats and decline offaunal capital in Pakistan has been a rapid processin last few decades. This trend is also very muchvisible in Chagai Desert as it is a hunting area forArab dignitaries. Moreover, many mega projectslike exploration of gold, silver and Copper inSandak and Ricko Diq areas and extraction ofOnyx Chagai have probably contributed towardsthe degradation process. Despite these naturalchallenges and potential anthropogenic threats,there is limited information on the status anddiversity of mammalian fauna from the area.There are several studies in the desert regions ofPakistan [1-16] which describe general diversityand distribution pattern of mammals. However,information specific to the Chagai Desert is notavailable. This study aimed at documentingactual diversity and status of mammals in thearea.Materials and MethodsThe data for this study were collected throughtrapping and sign surveys carried out in ChaghiDesert in three phases. The first survey wasconducted in October 2005, second in May 2008,and final one in November 2008. Sherman andsnap traps were used for the small mammals.A mixture of rice and wheat grains, sunflowerand coriander seeds, oats and onion all mixedwith peanut butter was used as bait for Shermantraps. The traps were checked on the next day asearly as possible and the trapped specimens wereidentified and released. Necessary relevant dataas date of trap setting, date of collection, habitat,location, weather conditions etc., were recordedat the spot on a data sheet. Catch rates werecalculated as the number of individuals captured/species/100 trap nights, and these were used asan index of relative abundance (17).The large mammals are mostly nocturnal andavoid any visual contact. Their record, therefore,was mainly based on indirect observations suchas foot tracks, feces, and dens. Sign survey siteswere selected randomly, and at each site one-hoursearch was carried out to detect any sign of largemammals. A portable spotlight was used duringnight survey to scan the area along the selectedtracks and to spot nocturnal mammals. Thenocturnal surveys were conducted in transects ofapproximately 5 to 15 km length. The data wassupplemented with the information available inthe literature, and information was also collectedfrom local people and wildlife officials. Based onsightings and signs of mammals in the area, theirabundance was categorized as; rare, common,abundant.ResultsTwenty three species of mammals wererecorded from the Chagai Desert (Table 1).Among these, 13 species belong to smallmammals and the rest to the large mammals.One species, Canis lupus, is included in CITESAppendix I, two species in the Appendix II (Felismargarita, Vulpes cana), and two in AppendixIII (Canis aureus, Vulpes vulpes). One species,Gazella subgutterosa, is endangered, two datadeficit (Vulpes rueppelli, Vulpes cana), one isnear threatened (Felis margarita) while the restare lower risk species according to the IUCNconservation status. Based on the country’sconservation status, two species (Felis margarita,Gazella subgutterosa) are critically endangered,one (Canis lupus) endangered, three (Vulpesrueppelli, Gazella benitti, Lepus capensis)vulnerable and four (Vulpes vulpes, Vulpes cana,Gerbillus gleadowi, Rhombomys opimus,) arenear threatened (Table 1).The catch rates of small mammals in ChagaiDesert (Table 2), suggest that the Gerbillusgleadowi and Jaculus blanfordi were the mostabundant species with trapping success of 23.08and 18.46%, respectively, whereas Meriones