IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Aiyadurai, A.; Varma, S. | |
| Dog and Bull - An investigation into carnivore-human conflict in and around Itanagar Wildlife Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh | |
| 2008 Full Book | |
Mithun (_Bos gaurus frontalis_), a semi-domestic bovid is reported to be depredated regularly by predators, in particular the wild dog (_Cuon alpinus_) and the villagers retaliate by killing the predators. This survey carried out in Itanagar Wildlife Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh, focused on the overall patterns and causes of the predatorhuman conflict. The survey was also aimed to evaluate methods that could be used to assess the status of forest and relative abundance of mammals in a remote and little explored tropical evergreen forest of northeast India. The investigation was based on forest trail surveys for assessing status of forest and mammals and village surveys to assess the status of wildlife. Out of 23 species reported for the region, only 26% of the total species were encountered in the trail survey and only after spending 95% of the total time with the villagers, information on all the species was obtained. Comparison of results of species number with other regions suggests that an expected mean number of 22 species could be computed for the survey area. Only 0.37% of man-hours was needed to encounter all the species for the current survey region. The village survey appears to be a robust method for a basic or advanced species list, but it may not be an appropriate method to evaluate the forest status. The result showed that the region has more predators (56%) than prey (44%). The encounter rate (3.43/km) and frequency of occurrence of mithun signs (65%) were high compared to encounter rate (0.19/km) and frequency of occurrence (4%) of natural prey. The findings suggest that, due to a low density of optimal prey species and relatively high density or encounter rate of livestock and their free ranging nature make livestock more susceptible to predation. Elimination of mithun by predation may have a severe impact on culture and the local economy of the tribe. The loss of mithun and the interest of consuming the meat of predators may justify the local people to eradicate the predators. Some species of predators have more ecological or conservation value as they are found in low numbers, sensitive to prey and habitat changes. If such species are identified as a problem species and exterminated by local people that could have a severe effect on the species. |
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