Tanuj Suryan, Gauraangi Raghav, Aniruddha Majumdar, Ravindra Mani Tripathi,
Volume 5, Issue 1 (3-2023)
Abstract
The big cats are of paramount importance for the sustenance of ecosystems and their interaction with humans is critical for their conservation. Coexistence and tolerance of the people involved will be crucial in the conservation of these cats in the growing human-dominated landscapes. The literature review on humans and big cats' conflicts and their coexistence indicates socio-economic factors are the main driving forces in shaping human attitudes toward these cats. In contrast to the mainstream view, conflict frequency does not directly affect the tolerance capacity of stakeholders; instead, coalitions of many factors like livelihood status, religious and cultural beliefs and government intervention are involved. The review provides an evaluation of the prevalent mitigation measures and other principles that govern human-big cats conflict and sheds light on the potential of coexistence as a pro-conservation strategy.
Aniruddha Majumdar,
Volume 5, Issue 3 (10-2023)
Abstract
Temporal activity patterns of different age and sex classes of a Bengal tiger population were studied at Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh between May 2006 and July 2009 using systematic camera traps. Based on the exact time of photo-capture tigers, information on temporal activity patterns of following age and sex categories of individual tigers (resident male (n= 55 photographs), female with cubs or breeding female (n= 70 photographs), female without cubs or non-breeding female (n= 72 photographs) and transient male (n= 42 photographs)) were recorded. Breeding females utilized significantly different activity period compared to transient males (P< 0.001) and females without cubs (P<0.001). Overall activity period between breeding female and resident male did not differ significantly (P >0.6) during the study period. The observed temporal segregation may provide valuable information on cub survival strategies adopted by breeding tigresses, potentially enhancing their reproductive success in a tropical deciduous forest. The adoption of camera trap-based population monitoring studies is advocated for the reproductive behavior of elusive large carnivores such as tigers in the wild on a long-term basis.
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