Space Use by Woolly Wolf Canis lupus chanco in Gangotri National Park, Western Himalaya, India

The woolly wolf Canis lupus chanco is increasingly being accepted as a unique taxon that needs immediate protection and management; however, information on its ecology remains limited across its range. We used camera trapping data set of 4 years (2015–2019) to investigate seasonal activity patterns and space use and assessed woolly wolf food habits in the Gangotri National Park, western Himalaya, India. We used generalized linear mixed models to assess the distribution of the wolf about prey, seasonal livestock grazing, human presence, habitat, and seasons. We observed a positive association with elevation and a negative response to an increase in ruggedness. The capture of wolves increased in winters, indicating a possible effect of snow on the ranging pattern. Spatial avoidance to anthropogenic pressure was not evident in our study; however, temporal avoidance was observed. The activity pattern of the wolf varied among seasons. Wolves were mostly active in the morning and late evening hours in summer and showed a diurnal activity pattern in winter. A less diverse diet was observed where the mean percentage frequency of occurrence and relative biomass was highest for bharal, followed by livestock. Himalayan marmot Marmota himalayana, birds, and rodents also form minor constituents to the diet. Synthesizing all three factors (space, diet, and activity), it may be stated that the wolf presence in the region is influenced by both wild prey availability and seasonality. Therefore, conservation of woolly wolves would require securing a vast landscape with optimal wild prey.

Gastrointestinal Helminth Parasites of Wild Ungulates In Hirpora Wildlife Sanctuary, Kashmir, India

Parasitic infection represents an emerging threat to wild ungulates and a challenge to their management. Although a lot of work has been carried out on helminth parasitic infestation of domestic ungulates of Kashmir but the data pertaining to this aspect of wild ungulates has being ignored. The study on gastrointestinal helminth parasitic infestation of wild ungulates was carried out during post livestock grazing period (November to May) of 2018/2019 in Hirpora Wildlife sanctuary (HWLS) to fill the gap in the existing literature. During the study fresh faecal samples of musk deer Moschus sp.(n=44) and markhor Capra falconeri (n=41)were collected and examined qualitatively and quantitatively for gastrointestinal helminth parasites. A total of seven helminth parasites were recorded which are arranged in the descending order of their overall prevalence as Haemonchus spp. (44.70%),Nematodirus spp. (40%), Trichuris spp. (37.64%), Strongyloides spp. (34.11%)Trichostrongylus spp. (28.23%),Monieziaspp. (23.52%) and Fasciola spp. (20%). The mean EPG (eggs per gram) of different parasites showed a considerable variation in both the wild ungulates. The highest mean EPGwas that of Haemonchus spp. and the lowest mean EPG was that of Fasciola spp. in both hosts. A statistically significant difference was observed in the mean EPG of different parasites among two wild hosts (t=3.606, p=0.01).

Major threats and habitat use status of Demoiselle crane (Anthropoides virgo), in district Bannu, Pakistan

Cranes are the large and attractive Creatures of nature with long necks, legs, and life-span. Adults of both sexes are the same with similar color patterns. Demoiselle cranes spend most of their lifespan on dry grasses. They are also found around the stream, rivers, shallow lakes, natural wetlands, and depressions. To evaluate the current status of habitat use and major threats a study was conducted in tehsil Domel district Bannu. Line transect method and water quality tests (temperature, PH, contamination of E-coli bacteria) were used. To determine the major threats questionnaire method was used. The whole data was analyzed by using SPSS 21 version. Based on the distribution four study sites were selected and four water samples from each study site were taken. Most sites were moderate to highly degraded except Kashoo and kurram river mixing point which was low degraded with livestock grazing and human activities. Water quality tests showed PH ranges from 7-9, temperature 6.5-8.5, and contamination of E-coli in all samples. The social survey revealed that hunting, habitat degradation, and pollution as major threats. Effective long-term conservation and management in the study area are needed to focus on the protection of disturbance-free habitat.

Practical Experiences of a Smart Livestock Location Monitoring System Leveraging GNSS, LoRaWAN and Cloud Services

Livestock farming is, in most cases in Europe, unsupervised, thus making it difficult to ensure adequate control of the position of the animals for the improvement of animal welfare. In addition, the geographical areas involved in livestock grazing usually have difficult access with harsh orography and lack of communications infrastructure, thus the need to provide a low-power livestock localization and monitoring system is of paramount importance, which is crucial not for a sustainable agriculture, but also for the protection of native breeds and meats thanks to their controlled supervision. In this context, this work presents an Internet of things (IoT)-based system integrating low-power wide area (LPWA) technology, cloud, and virtualization services to provide real-time livestock location monitoring. Taking into account the constraints coming from the environment in terms of energy supply and network connectivity, our proposed system is based on a wearable device equipped with inertial sensors, Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, and LoRaWAN transceiver, which can provide a satisfactory compromise between performance, cost, and energy consumption. At first, this article provides the state-of-the-art localization techniques and technologies applied to smart livestock. Then, we proceed to provide the hardware and firmware co-design to achieve very low energy consumption, thus providing a significant positive impact to the battery life. The proposed platform has been evaluated in a pilot test in the northern part of Italy, evaluating different configurations in terms of sampling period, experimental duration, and number of devices. The results are analyzed and discussed for packet delivery ratio, energy consumption, localization accuracy, battery discharge measurement, and delay.

A Glimpse of Blue Sheep (Pseudois nayaur) Hunting in Api Nampa Conservation Area (ANCA) Nepal

Higher altitudes of Api Nampa Conservation Area have become a hunting destination for the local people bringing a threat to blue sheep and other wildlife. Blue sheep has been a national concern in Nepal due to being the main prey species of snow leopard and trophy hunting. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of hunters in Api Nampa Conservation Area (ANCA), Darchula, Nepal. This study was carried out around Api Nampa Conservation Area in 2016. Mixed methods of questionnaires were developed to collect data, and quantitative analysis was done by applying SPSS 16. A hundred percent of hunters like to hunt in this protected area. The hunted animals were goral, blue sheep, barking deer, boar and tahr. Site-specific characteristics like vegetation density, terrain and rugged land topography often vary markedly across surveys. Due to the regular and yearly use of grazing by the livestock in the area, it becomes imperative to study their feeding habits and document their food plants. Consequently, poaching and livestock grazing are important challenges for the conservation of blue sheep. Hunting, deforestation, forest fires, grazing and shifting agriculture are identified as major threats to the wildlife of Api Nampa Conservation Area. Envisioning, critical thinking, building partnership in decision-making, awareness, and stringent action against hunting activities must be adopted early. Api Nampa Conservation Area has received little research attention from grassland ecologists and specialists in pastoral management.

Comparison of six zero-till seed drill openers for establishment and persistence of sod-seeded alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) in a cool-season perennial grass pasture

Zero-till seed drills are readily available for crop seeding in the prairie region of western Canada but have not been evaluated for sod-seeding in perennial forage. Sod-seeding a legume, such as alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), into the existing perennial grass vegetation improves forage yield and quality for ruminant livestock grazing and production. Suppression of the existing vegetation with herbicide has been reported to increase alfalfa seedling establishment. We evaluated six commercially available zero-till seed drill openers by sod-seeding alfalfa into a crested wheatgrass [Agropyron cristatum (L.) Gaertn.] pasture with or without glyphosate suppression of the existing vegetation in Lanigan Saskatchewan. Alfalfa seedling establishment (52.2 vs. 21.9 seedlings m−1 ± 6.8), alfalfa composition (42.5% vs. 0.2% ± 8.6), and alfalfa yield (1105 kg·ha−1 vs. 12 kg·ha−1 ± 206) in 2011 were increased by the application of herbicide. Seed drill openers performed similarly for all three variables. Nine years later, in June 2020, there was greater alfalfa composition (13.3% vs. 0% ± 2.3) and forage yield (1325 vs. 957 kg·ha−1 ± 127) in the sod-seeded plots than in the unseeded controls but the alfalfa plant cover, alfalfa composition, alfalfa yield and forage yield were similar among seed drill openers. There was also no difference in these variables due to herbicide application nine years prior. Livestock producers can utilize currently available zero-till seeding equipment for sod-seeding alfalfa to rejuvenate grass pastures in the thin Black soil zone of western Canada with the expectation of persistence of alfalfa for nine years.

Persistence of Seed Dispersal in Agroecosystems: Effects of Landscape Modification and Intensive Soil Management Practices in Avian Frugivores, Frugivory and Seed Deposition in Olive Croplands

Farming impacts animal-mediated seed dispersal through mechanisms operating on at least two spatial scales. First, at the landscape scale, through habitat loss and land conversion to agriculture/livestock grazing, and second, at the farm scale, via a local intensification of agricultural practices. These two scales of farming impact seed dispersal function but have rarely been integrated. In particular, studies evaluating the effect of agriculture on the seed dispersal function of frugivorous birds in Mediterranean ecosystems are lacking. This study evaluates the role of landscape transformation, from fruit-rich woodland habitats to olive grove landscapes, together with local intensive practices of soil management on the persistence of the seed dispersal function for Mediterranean fleshy-fruited plants in olive landscapes of south Spain. We used bird censuses, mist-nets, and seed traps to characterize avian frugivore assemblages, frugivory, and seed deposition in the seminatural woodland habitat (SNWH) patches and olive fields of 40 olives farms spanning 20 localities distributed across the whole range of olive cultivation in Andalusia (southern Spain). We found that despite the remarkable dispersal function of olive grove landscapes, avian frugivore abundance and diversity, frugivory, and seed arrival decreased in olive fields compared to SNWH patches. Likewise, SNWH cover loss and/or olive growing expansion decreased avian frugivory and seed arrival. Interestingly, the habitat effects in the olive farms often depended on the landscape context. In particular, less diverse fruit-eating bird assemblages pooled in SNWH patches as olive grove cover increased or SNWH decreased in the landscape, while remaining relatively invariant in the olive fields. Finally, compared to conventional intensive agriculture, low-intensity management increased frugivory and seed deposition. We conclude that olive fields are less permeable to frugivores than expected due to the agroforest-like nature of these landscapes and that the presence of SNWH patches is crucial for the maintenance of frugivory and seed dispersal in agricultural landscapes. These results evidence that woodland habitat loss by olive expansion and intensive practices seriously threaten the dispersal service in olive-dominated landscapes. Maintenance, restoration, and promotion of woodland patches should be prioritized for the conservation of seed dispersal service and for enhancing the functional connectivity in human-shaped olive landscapes.