scholarly journals Activity pattern of Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) in Machiara National Park, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan

Author(s):  
Babar Zahoor ◽  
Xuehua Liu ◽  
Basharat Ahmad

Abstract The Asiatic black bear is considered an indicator species of the environment, hence, any change in the environment may alter its activity pattern. We monitored the monthly activity pattern of black bears in the moist temperate forests of Machiara National Park, AJ&K, Pakistan. We used infrared camera traps and indigenous knowledge for data collection from April 2019 to April 2021. Camera traps recorded 109 (inside the forest = 107, outside the forest = 2) independent registrations (IR) within 5541 (692.63 ± 36.72, mean ± SD) camera days. We found that (i) spring and autumn were the lowest activity seasons of black bears inside the forest. (ii) Whereas, the highest activities were recorded in summer with peak activities in August followed by July (χ2 = 203.5, df= 7, P< 0.05). (iii) The activity level sharply declined after August and halted from late November to late April which was clear indication of bears’ hibernation period. We collected indigenous knowledge from 70 selected persons, including hunters, herders, temporary residents and crop raiding victims. We used the data of human observation of latest three years and found that (i) bears remained active from May to November and hibernated rest of the period. (ii) The activities were at their peak inside the forest in summer (May – August) and out of the forest in autumn (September – November) when it preferred to raid the widely cultivated maize crop (Zea mays) in the area. The capturing of black bears by camera traps outside the forest further supported the data provided by local people. Such switching over might have occurred due to the food preferences for Zea mays or easy access to abundant food availability out of the forest area. The current data can help mitigate human black bears conflict and consequently future conservation of black bears in the area.

1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (9) ◽  
pp. 1771-1775 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Kasbohm ◽  
James G. Kraus ◽  
Michael R. Vaughan

During 1988–1991 we determined food habits and indices of diet quality for a black bear (Ursus americanus) population in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, experiencing a severe gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) defoliation event, and compared the results with data collected prior to defoliation (1982–1984). Gypsy moth infestation resulted in extensive summer overstory canopy loss and a complete acorn failure in affected areas. As in predefoliation years, analysis of scats collected during defoliation indicated that bears ate primarily herbaceous vegetation in spring, followed by squawroot (Canopholis americana) and fruits of black and sweet cherry (Prunus serotina and P. avium) in summer. However, in early and late fall bears switched from consuming predominantly acorns before defoliation to pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) berries and grapes (Vitis spp.), respectively, during defoliation. Despite acorn loss, no decline in dietary nutritional quality was observed in comparisons of the percentages of crude protein, crude fat, and crude fiber in seasonal diets before and during defoliation. When it is available, bears can successfully exploit soft mast as a fall food source and do not necessarily experience a substantial reduction in food quality if acorn crops fail.


2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia V. Sidorchuk ◽  
Michail V. Maslov ◽  
Vyacheslav V. Rozhnov

A study of interspecific interactions of European (Meles meles) and Asian (M. leucurus) badgers with other carnivores at badger setts was carried out in Darwin Reserve (European part  of Russia) and in Ussuriisk Reserve (Russian Far East) in 2006-2011. We used camera traps for the registration of visits of carnivore mammals to the badger setts. Overall, 11 species were recorded. In both reserves, badger setts attract carnivore species during the whole year. Some predators visit badger setts regularly. The visitors can be divided into two groups: species searching shelter, or searching prey. The first group includes raccoon dog Nyctereutes procyonoides and red fox Vulpes vulpes. Raccoon dog was the most frequent visitor in both study areas (34 visits in Darwin reserve and 73 in Ussuriisk reserve). The second group includes lynx Lynx lynx and wolf Canis lupus in Darwin reserve and Asiatic black bear Ursus thibetanus, brown bear U. arctos, yellow-throated marten Martes flavigula aterrima and lynx Lynx lynx in Ussuriisk reserve. Smaller predators are also included into the second group because they can find prey at badger setts too: leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis euptilura, sable Martes zibellina and Siberian weasel Mustela sibirica in Ussuriisk reserve and European pine marten Martes martes in Darwin reserve. No cases of  aggressive interactions between the badgers and the visitors were recorded. But we noted two cases of change of sett owners and one case when raccoon dog removed dead badger cubs from the sett.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronglarp Sukmasuang ◽  
Khwanrutai Charaspet ◽  
JITTIMA REONTIK ◽  
MANANYA Pla-ard

Abstract. Sukmasuang R, Charaspet K, Reontik J, Pla-ard M. 2020. Temporal overlap of carnivorous mammal community and their prey in Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife sanctuary, Chachoengsao Province, Thailand. Biodiversitas 21: 922-932. This study on the temporal overlap of the carnivorous community and their prey in Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary was conducted from March 2017 to February 2018. Camera traps were deployed systematically with a total of 4,463 trap nights. Fourteen carnivorous mammals were recorded, which were mainly present at night, with the exception of the dhole, small Indian mongoose, crab-eating mongoose, and yellow-throated marten. The clouded leopard's presence overlapped between day and night. Using the average coefficient overlap(Δ) between a carnivore, and the other carnivorous species, the leopard cat was found to have the highest Δ value, followed by the hog badger, Asiatic jackal, small Indian civet, Asian palm civet, large Indian civet, large spotted civet, Asiatic black bear, dhole, Malayan sun bear, yellow-throated marten, small Indian mongoose, crab-eating mongoose, and clouded leopard. The potential prey species that had the highest Δwith the carnivorous species, was the Siamese hare. This study shows the importance of preserving the carnivorous community within the area. An important threat is a likelihood that carnivorous species in the area may be exposed to external diseases from infected domestic animals when coming out to hunt in the communities surrounding the protected area.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Huiyi Su ◽  
Manjit Bista ◽  
Mingshi Li

AbstractHabitat evaluation is essential for managing wildlife populations and formulating conservation policies. With the rise of innovative powerful statistical techniques in partnership with Remote Sensing, GIS and GPS techniques, spatially explicit species distribution modeling (SDM) has rapidly grown in conservation biology. These models can help us to study habitat suitability at the scale of the species range, and are particularly useful for examining the overlapping habitat between sympatric species. Species presence points collected through field GPS observations, in conjunction with 13 different topographic, vegetation related, anthropogenic, and bioclimatic variables, as well as a land cover map with seven classification categories created by support vector machine (SVM) were used to implement Maxent and GARP ecological niche models. With the resulting ecological niche models, the suitable habitat for asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) and red panda (Ailurus fulgens) in Nepal Makalu Barun National Park (MBNP) was predicted. All of the predictor variables were extracted from freely available remote sensing and publicly shared government data resources. The modeled results were validated by using an independent dataset. Analysis of the regularized training gain showed that the three most important environmental variables for habitat suitability were distance to settlement, elevation, and mean annual temperature. The habitat suitability modeling accuracy, characterized by the mean area under curve, was moderate for both species when GARP was used (0.791 for black bear and 0.786 for red panda), but was moderate for black bear (0.857), and high for red panda (0.920) when Maxent was used. The suitable habitat estimated by Maxent for black bear and red panda was 716 km2 and 343 km2 respectively, while the suitable area determined by GARP was 1074 km2 and 714 km2 respectively. Maxent predicted that the overlapping area was 83% of the red panda habitat and 40% of the black bear habitat, while GARP estimated 88% of the red panda habitat and 58% of the black bear habitat overlapped. The results of land cover exhibited that barren land covered the highest percentage of area in MBNP (36.0%) followed by forest (32.6%). Of the suitable habitat, both models indicated forest as the most preferred land cover for both species (63.7% for black bear and 61.6% for red panda from Maxent; 59.9% black bear and 58.8% for red panda from GARP). Maxent outperformed GARP in terms of habitat suitability modeling. The black bear showed higher habitat selectivity than red panda. We suggest that proper management should be given to the overlapping habitats in the buffer zone. For remote and inaccessible regions, the proposed methods are promising tools for wildlife management and conservation, deserving further popularization.


Ursus ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samina A. Charoo ◽  
Lalit K. Sharma ◽  
S. Sathyakumar

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document