IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Smith, J.L.D.; Ahearn, S.C.; Simchareon, S.; Barlow, A. | |
| Female Tiger Home Range Size: a Critical Measure of Tiger Habitat Quality | |
| 2007 Conference Proceeding | |
International concern for tigers reached a crisis level with reports in 2006 that tigers were extirpated from two reserves in India. Conservation funding organizations and government agencies are demanding more rigorous assessment tools to monitor tiger conservation efforts. Since 1995 tiger assessment has relied on mark recapture techniques using camera traps and presence/absence surveys based on sightings, photographs or visual observations of tiger sign. However, there are serious limitations to these techniques because of lack of independent validation of results by other field methods. We use data obtained from GPS collars placed on five resident female tigers and one resident male tiger at sites in Thailand, Bangladesh and Nepal to provide an independent estimate of tiger density based on female home range size. Home range size varied from 12 to 75 km2 for females and was correlated to estimates of prey abundance in our study and also in the literature. Efforts to restore tiger habitat and reduce poaching are dependent on ability to monitor positive response to management intervention and negative response to continued poaching and habitat degradation. Female home range data provide a highly sensitive way to measure changes in tiger habitat quality. |
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