IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Karlstetter, M. | |
| Wildlife surveys and wildlife conservation in Nuristan, Afghanistan | |
| 2008 Full Book | |
Nuristan province, situated in the northeast of Afghanistan, still holds an extensive portion of the country's remaining forests, which play an important role for the country's biodiversity and its overall economy. However, extensive deforestation and hunting pose serious threats to the future existence of these forests, the survival of the wildlife they harbor, including four globally threatened large mammal species: snow leopard Uncia uncia, markhor Capra falconeri, urial Ovis orientalis, and Asiatic black bear Ursus thibetanus (IUCN 2007), and are menacing the source of livelihood of rural residents. This study, whose preliminary results are presented here, aims at updating 30 year old information about wildlife species occurrence in Nuristan as a means of providing base line data for the development of environmental conservation strategies for the province' forest region, which are part of a Gobal 200 Ecoregion (Olson & Dinerstein 2002). The study was conducted in the framework of a greater initiative of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Afghanistan Biodiversity Conservation Program, in Afghanistan's eastern forests, which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development. Surveys were conducted in the project's study site, located in south central Nuristan on the border to Kunar province, and included camera trap surveys, large mammal surveys, scat collection for speciesidentification via DNA analysis, small rodent collection, community interviews and community wildlife mapping. We found solid evidence of species presence (photographs from camera traps, scat DNA analysis, and unambiguous direct sightings) for leopard cat _Prionailurus bengalensis_, grey wolf _Canis lupus_, golden jackal _Canis aureus_, red fox _Vulpes vulpes_, Asiatic black bear _Ursus thibetanus_, markhor _Capra falconeri_, rhesus macaque _Macaca mulatta_, crested porcupine _Hystrix indica_, a civet species, suggested to be the common palm civet _Paradoxurus hermaphroditus_, and yellow-throated marten _Martes flavigula_. In addition, camera trap photographs confirmed the presence of four bird species, the chukar patridge _Alectoris chukar_, common woodpigeon _Columba palumbus_, large-billed crow _Corvus macrorhynchos japonensis_, and scaly-bellied woodpecker _Picus squamatus_. Although we lack proven evidence, interviews with residents suggest that common leopard _Panthera pardus_, snow leopard _Uncia uncia_, lynx _Lynx lynx,_ brown bear _Ursus arctos_, and musk deer _Moschus cupreus_ still occur in the study site. No reliable information was obtained about the occurrence of Pallas' cat _Otocolobus manul, _jungle cat_ Felis chaus_, wild cat _Felis silvestris_, ibex _Capra siberica_, and urial _Ovis orientalis_. Our study does not provide evidence-based information about species abundance and only limited information about species distribution. The existence of species found during this study confirms previous findings of wildlife surveys in the area. For one species, the common palm civet, the first live record according to the literature could be provided for Afghanistan. |
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