IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Vongkhamheng, C. | |
| Survey, Assessment and Conservation of the Indochinese Tiger _(Panthera tigris corbetti)_ in Lao PDR - Year I | |
| 2003 Full Book | |
Only a few of the protected areas in Lao PDR are large enough to contain habitat and prey to maintain viable populations of tigers. This project is centered in the Nam Et Phou Louey (NEPL) National Protected Area (NPA), the second largest protected area (4200 km2) in the country, which is believed to have an internationally important tiger population. Our GIS analysis of the site indicates that the NPA spans three provinces and six districts and encompasses about 103 villages (Figure 1). The NPA has reported a relatively high incidence of wildlife attacks, presumed to be tiger, on domestic livestock in villages within the protected area. With this project, we are following up on the recommendations of early WCS surveys in the NPA in 1998 to work with district staff and villagers to reduce domestic livestock predation by wildlife. NEPL NPA is the site of an IUCN Integrated Conservation and Development Project that aims to address both poverty alleviation and wildlife conservation. They have a critical need for accurate data on tiger and prey populations and on tiger depredation of domestic livestock in order to develop realistic wildlife management strategies. This purpose of this project, funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Exxon/Mobil Save the Tiger Fund (NFWF/STF), is to assess the status of tigers and prey as well as incidents of large carnivore depredation of livestock in the NEPL NPA. The objectives of the project include: 1. Gather baseline data on the status of tigers and prey; 2. Strengthen the long term monitoring program of tiger and prey in the Nam Et Phou Louey NPA; 3. Train provincial and district field staff to gather data on incidents of livestock depredation while exploring the utility of testing a pilot compensation scheme; and, 4. Improve response of provincial and district field staff to incidents of tiger depredation of domestic livestock in villages around the NEPL NPA. During the first six months of the project (please see previous report submitted to NFWF/STF), the Lao Program team worked with Drs. Margaret Kinnaird and Tim O'Brien of the WCS Indonesia program to hammer out the experimental design of the field surveys in Lao; identified the five sites to be sampled for tigers within Nam Et Phou Louey; arranged for the Lao survey team leaders to receive the necessary training in tiger ecology and camera trapping methods; and began the process of collecting data on the history of large carnivore depredation of livestock. This report details accomplishments during the second six months of the project, and represents the final report on this first year of the project. |
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