Determining Trophy Harvest Quotas Through a Status Survey of Urial (Ovis Orientalis) in the Kalabagh Game Reserve, Punjab Province, Pakistan

2007·2.7 MB·

by  Michael R Frisina

Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 104 (1), Jan-Apr 2007 35-39
DETERMINING TROPHY HARVEST QUOTAS THROUGH A STATUS SURVEY
OF URIAL (OVIS ORIENTALS IN THE KALABAGH GAME RESERVE,
)
PUNJAB PROVINCE, PAKISTAN
1
Michael R. Frisina2 GhulamAliAwan3 and Michael H. Woodford4
,
'Accepted May 23, 2005
"Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, 1330 West Gold Street. Butte, MT 59701, USA. Email: [email protected]
3WWF-Pakistan, PO Box 5180, Lahore 54600, Pakistan. Email: [email protected]
4Apdo: 215, 8101 Louie, Algarve, Portugal. Email: [email protected]
In April 2001, a population survey of Urial (Ovis orientalis) was conducted in the Kalabagh Game Reserve, in
northwest Pakistan, to determine its suitability for sustainable use management. During the survey, 259 Urial were
observed(143females,20lambs,96males).The96maleswereclassifiedas30, 19, 19,and28;Class I,ClassII,Class
III,andClassIVrams,respectively.Thenumberoflambsobservedwaslow(7.7%)becausethesurveywasconducted
atornearthepeakoflambing,whenobservinglambsisdifficult. However,thehighfrequencyoflambingactivity we
observed during the survey and proportion ofClass I rams (male lambs ofthe previous year) indicates a productive
population.An overall density of 13 Urial persq. km was observedon the Reserve, but rangedfrom 7-23 persq. km
amongsectors.Urialwereabundantwithgoodsurvivaloflambsandyearlingramsduringrecentyears,andgoodsurvival
oframs into olderage classes. An initial conservative harvestquotaof5 Class IV rams couldbe established without
negativeconsequences.Specificrecommendationsforsustainableusemanagementareprovided.
Keywords: Urial, Ovisorientalis sustainableuse,populationdynamics
,
INTRODUCTION The Punjab Wildlife Protection, Preservation,
Conservationand ManagementActof 1974protectsUrial in
Theownersofthe Kalabagh Game Reserve (KGR), in Punjab Province from hunting, except under specific
northwest Pakistan, were interested in the population status circumstances. Various wildlife protection laws enacted by
ofUrial on their lands as of2001. The goal was to have the the Pakistan National Government and Punjab Provincial
government designate their privately-owned reserve a Government are summarized by Hess etal. (1997). Urial at
sanctioned community-based sustainable use hunting Kalabagh have been protected for the last 60 to 70 years by
program. To accomplish this, it was necessary to conduct a the Malik family who own the KGR and currently employ
population survey to determine suitability of the area. We about 30game guards.
summarize data resulting from the surveyconductedduring
April2001 andprovide managementrecommendations. STUDYAREA
CONSERVATIONSTATUS Establishedintheearly 1930s,theKGRislocatedabout
25kmsoutheastofthetownofKalabagh, Mianwali District,
ThetaxonomicstatusofUrialisunclearanddesignation PunjabProvinceinasmall massifthatformsthemostwesterly
of various subspecies varies between authors (Clark 1964; extensionoftheSaltMountainRange(32°52'N , 71° 39'E).
EllermanandMorrison-Scott 1966;Valdez 1982;Shackleton Formanygenerations,thislandhasbeentheprivateproperty
andLovari 1997;Mitchell andFrisina2007). Inasynthesisof ofthe Nawab ofKalabagh. It wasonly in the 1930s, that the
availableinformation,Hessetal. 1997)consideredtheUrial Urial were affordedspecialprotection,and few werepresent
(
at Kalabagh as the Punjab subspecies (Ovis orientalis althattimeaccordingtoNawabMalikMuhammadAsad(pers.
punjabiensis). The Punjab subspecies is found as small, comm. 2001). With shooting prohibited, except for limited
scattered populations throughout the Kala Chitta and Salt trophy hunting by special permission, the Urial increased
Range(Hessetal. 1997).ThetaxonomicstatusofUrialliving andin 1966thepopulationwasestimatedtobe500(Mountfort
alongthe westbankoftheIndus Riverisuncertain(Schaller 1969).AlthoughdeclininginotherportionsoftheSaltRange
and Mirza 1974). All Urial are listed in Appendix II in the (Awan et al. 2004), the Urial population at Kalabagh has
ConventiononInternationalTrade inEndangeredSpeciesof increasedunderprotection, with the population estimatedto
WildFaunaandFlora(CITES)excepttheLadakhUrial(Ovis be700in 1988and850in 1992(Hessetal. 1997).
orientalisvignei),whichislistedinAppendix1(USFWS2001). Historically the Salt Range supported a spectrum of
The Punjab subspecies is listed as endangered in the IUCN wildlife, including the Punjab subspecies (Ovis orientalis
RedList(IUCN2000). punjabiensis), Chinkara (Gazella bennettii), Chukor
)
DETERMINING TROPHY HARVEST QUOTAS OF URIAL IN THE KALABAGH GAME RESERVE
(Alectoris chukar), See-See Partridge (Ammoperdix ridgelinetravelroutes.Drop-offpoints,basecamplocations,
griseogularis GreyFrancolin Francolinuspondicerianus and observation points were documented using GPS
), (
andBlackFrancolin{Francolinusfrancolinus)wereplentiful technology.Animalswereobservedwiththeaidof8xand lOx
duetothenatureofthevegetationandtopography. Important binoculars. Relatively short sight distances made use of
carnivores included Indian wolf (Canis lupus pallipes). spotting scopes unnecessary. Agroup of4 to 6 experienced
Leopard(Pantherapardus),JungleCat(Felischans).Golden observers went into the field togetherfor 3 days (April 5-7,
Jackal Canisaureus).RedFox Vulpesvulpes),andYellow- 2001 toobserve sheep.
( ( )
throated Marten (.Martes ftavigula). However, habitat The habitat ofthe Urial at Kalabagh was divided into
destructionanduncontrolledhuntingin therecent pasthave three sectors for survey purposes. Each sector was ofa size
led to a marked reduction in the numbers and range ofmost and layout affording efficient coverage in one field day by
species. Urial andChinkaracurrentlyare theonly large wild theobservationgroup.Theareaforeachsectorwasestimated
ungulatesin the KGR.Wild Boar(Sitsscrofa)isalsopresent. using field notes and GPS coordinates correlated to map
Livestock grazing within the KGR is limited to a few coordinates on a 1:50,000 scale topographic map. The Dot
cattle and sheep that graze a short distance from the game Countingmethodwasusedtoestimatethesquarekilometers
guard headquarters at Jaba. foreach sector. In thismethod, each dotrepresents aknown
The Salt Range is an east-west trending thrust front areakeyed to the scale ofthebase mapemployed.
about 175 km long and contains the second largest known Everyeffortwasmadetoavoidcountingananimalmore
mineral salt(sodiumchloride) depositin the world. The salt than once. Each sectorwas surveyedonly once, 1 sectorper
deposits are due to evaporation of the ancient Tethys Sea day,overa3-dayperiod.Tominimizeerror,areastobecovered
andformationoftheIndusPlainsfromacollisionoftheIndian and distances to be traveled were carefully planned in
Plate with the Asian Plate resulting from continental drift advance. When the possibility existed thatthe same animals
40millionyearsago (KingandVincent 1993). Elevations in were observed more than once, only the first sighting was
theSaltRangevaryfrom250to 1,520m. SakesarPeakisthe recorded.
highestpointat 1,524m. Each Urial observed was classified into one of the
Thedominanthabitattypeintheareaisdrysub-tropical, following categories: adult ewe, lamb, or ram. Rams were
semi-evergreen scrub forest (Roberts 1997). The important further classified according to size, using horn length as an
plantspeciesareAcaciamodesta,Oleaferrugenia,Salvadora indicatorofage, as follows: Class 1(1-2 years old). Class II
oleioides, Zizyphus nummularia, Dodonaea viscosa, (3-4 years old). Class III (5-6 years old), and Class IV
Prosopis glanditlosa Justicia adhatoda and Calotropis (>6yearsold).
,
procera. Shrubs are sparse, mostly scattered; Zizyphus Location and altitude ofsheep observation sites were
nummulariaandMaytenusroyleanus,exceptinsomeravines recordedusingahandheldGPSunit.Ramtrophiespreviously
and on high ridges where Dodonaea viscosa is prominent. harvested by hunters in the late 1960s and early 1970s and
The predominant ground cover consists of grasses, currently stored at Kalabagh were assigned an age by
importantly Cymbopogonjwarancusa, Elusine compressa, countingthenumberofannualgrowthringsusingthemethod
Heteropogon contortus, Aristida adscensionis, Cynodon describedbyGeist 1966).
(
dactylon and Saccharum sp.
Precipitation is in the form of rain. Data from the RESULTSANDDISCUSSION
Meteorological Department weather stations at Mianwali,
30 km southwest of the KGR, provide an average annual Duringthesurvey,259Urialwereobserved(143females,
rainfallof454mmforthe30-yearperiodfrom 1961-1990.Rain 20lambs,96males).The96maleswereclassifiedas30, 19, 19,
isstronglyseasonalwith60%fallingduringsummer.Monsoon and28-ClassI,ClassII,ClassIII,andClassIVrespectively.
rainsstartaroundmid-Julyandlasttomid-September.Winter Duringthesurvey,anaverage86Urialwereobservedperday
rainsbegin in January andpersisttoearly March. Januaryis in the field, indicating that Urial are abundant at Kalabagh.
the coldest and June the warmest month of the year. Mean Urialwerewidelyscatteredthroughouttheareaandmanywere
maximumdailytemperatureareusually>40°CinJune. observedas single animalsoringroupsoflessthan five.
METHODS
Population
InApril 2001 anoverall densityof 13 Urialpersq.km
,
All surveys were conducted from the ground while was observed on the KGR, but the density varied with the
hiking.Urial werespottedfromobservationpointsandalong surveysector,rangingfrom7-23Urialpersq.km.Comparing
36 J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 104 (1), Jan-Apr 2007
DETERMINING TROPHY HARVEST QUOTAS OF URIAL IN THE KALABAGH GAME RESERVE
data from an October 1970 survey with data from an April
1974 survey, Schaller (1977) reported Urial densities at
Kalabaghof 11-13persq.km.However,Schaller’s(1977)total
censusareawasabout40sq.kmcomparedtoourtotalcensus
area, about 21 sq. km (Table 1). We only included habitat
commonlyusedbyUrial inoursurvey;lowerelevationareas
used primarily by Chinkara, but in which Urial are rarely
observed, were not included.
The observed population structure at Kalabagh
is summarized in Fig. I. The largest proportion of rams
in the population was Class I, indicating good survival of
lambsandyearlingramsduringrecentyears.MatureClassIV
or trophy-type rams were the second most abundant
population segment, indicating good survival of males into Fig. 1: Urialpopulationsexandagestructureasobservedat
Kalabagh,April2001 Malesbyageclass; =1-2yearsold,
olderageclasses.ClassIIandClass111ramseachrepresented II=3-4yearsold, I.II=5-6yearsold, IV=1 >6yearsold
19.8% ofthe malepopulation segment, alsoindicatinggood
survival. SustainableHarvesting
In April, ewes are lambing at Kalabagh. During the Currently the Urial population at Kalabagh is not
survey, we found several newly born lambs and observed hunted. Prior to implementation of the Punjab Wildlife
many ewes off by themselves apparently preparing for Protection,Preservation,ConservationandManagementAct
parturition. This is why the percentage of lambs (7.7%) of 1974,thepopulation wastrophyhuntedformanyyearson
observedislow.Lambsbornthepreviousyearwereclassified a limited basis (6-10 Class IV males per year) (Malik
aseitheryearling(ClassI) malesorplacedintheadultfemale Muhammad Asad pers. comm. 2001). Eight Class IV males
category. Our observations indicate that this survey might harvested at Kalabagh by trophy hunters (prior to the 1974
have been conducted at or near the peak of lambing. The Act) were aged. The mean age was 9.6 years at death and
peakoflambingisapoortimetocensusthelambpopulation ranged from 8-11 years at death. These data indicate that
becausenewbornlambsareusuallyhiddenfrom view. rams lived up to old age and were harvested near the end of
MorethanhalfofallUrialobservedwereewes(Fig. 1). theirnaturallifespan.
Thepercentageoflambsobservedwouldhavebeenhigherif If the KGR is designated a Government sanctioned
the surveyhadbeenconductedafterlambingwascompleted community-basedsustainableusehuntingarea,itisessential
and the lambs had been old enough to travel with their an initial hunting quota be established. The only recent
mothers. populationdataavailableforKalabaghisthatcollectedduring
Forthe aforementionedreasons, datafromthis survey ourApnl2001 survey.Aprilisapoortimeoftheyeartocensus
cannotbe usedtocalculate anaccurate lambratioforspring Urialpopulationasewesarescatteredduetolambing,recently
2001. However, the high frequency oflambing activity we born lambs are difficult to observe, and rams are scattered
observedduringthesurvey andproportionofClass Irams in acrosstheirrange.Theresultisprobablyasignificantlylower
the population indicates a productive population. numberoftotal animals observed by sex and age class than
Table1: SizeoftheKalabagh Urial range,surveyarea,andnumberofUrialobservedbysectorandsexorageclass
Urial AdultMales Other
Sector Sq.km observed (ClassIII&IV)1 Males Females Lambs
1 8.5 63 16 16 27 4
2 6.4 144 24 18 88 14
3(portionsurveyed) 4.5 52 7 15 28 2
3(portionnotsurveyed) 2.0 - - - -
Totalareasurveyed 19.4 259 47 49 143 20
TotalAreaofUrialrange 21.4
^lassIII=5-6yearsold,ClassIV=>6yearsold
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 104 (1), Jan-Apr 2007 37
DETERMINING TROPHY HARVEST QUOTAS OF URIAL IN THE KALABAGH GAME RESERVE
wouldbeobservedduringatimeofyearwhenewesandrams from the Class IV age group could be established without
are more visible, such as during the October-November negative impactto the population.
breedingseason. Mostcountsofwildanimalsunderestimate An intensive survey usingtheprotocolsdevelopedfor
the true total because not all animals are seen during the this survey should be conducted as soon as possible during
census(CaughleyandGoodard 1972).Thus,usingdatafrom thefallbreedingseasontoestablishabaselinefordetermining
this survey to estimate a suitable sustainable hunting quota population trend for future trophy hunting quotas.
provides avery conservative numberofanimals appropriate Adetailedanalysisofthe Urial population’s habitat at
for harvest, but may be suitable where the purpose is to Kalabagh should be conducted to include a description of
establish an initial safe quota. the diversity and extent of plant communities present, and
Followingexaminationofliteratureon similarspecies theecologicalconditionofsoilsandvegetation; information
and populations, Harris (1993) concluded that an annual essentialfordetermininghabitatcarryingcapacityforUrial.
harvestoftrophy malesinnumbersequivalentto2percentof All trophies harvested should be aged and standard
the total population sizecan be maintained without negative physical measurements taken ofcarcasses and horns. Field
consequences.UsingtheapproachdescribedbyHarris(1993) necropsy fordisease, parasites, and assessing animal health
and assuming the 259 Urial observed during this survey is attimeofdeathshouldbeperformedonallharvestedtrophies.
the total population, an initial trophy hunting quota for fall Special training for the Game Guards may be required, but
2001 couldbeupto5trophymales.Harvestingofmaleswithin such data is essential forproperpopulation management.
a limit of 10-20% of the replacement of the trophy-sized
segment is consistent with Wegge (1997) as a safe and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
conservativeharvestlevelforstableorincreasingwildsheep
and goat populations. During this survey, we observed The authors acknowledge the USFWS Division of
19 Class III (5-6 year old) males, which is the population International Conservation for funding the survey. We
segmentofreplacementanimalsforharvestedClassIV males. especiallythank DaveFergusonforhisconfidence inus and
A trophy harvest quota of 5 Class IV males is a for providing constant encouragement and support. The
conservative and appropriate harvest level for sustainable WWF-Pakistan and WWF-Pakistan Conservation Advisor
management, but shouldbeconsideredamaximum number, Richard Garstang supported the project and provided GIS
until additional population monitoring is conducted during technical assistance. Christopher Shank (IUCN Pakistan)
the fall breeding season when a population estimate can be supported the project in many ways; his assistance with
developed for monitoring population trend. Because of the scheduling and travel was especially helpful. We thank the
aforementioned observational biases, data collected during Malik family of Kalabagh for their generous hospitality.
thisAprilsurvey wasnotusedtomakeapopulationestimate. Without their support, this project would not have been
possible.GameGuardsMuhammadRamzan,MuhammadAraf,
CONCLUSIONSANDRECOMMENDATIONS OmarHayat, andJalandharprovidedessentialfield support.
Liakoat Ali and Muhammad Ashraf of the Punjab Wildlife
A sustainable use trophy harvest quota of five rams Department also assisted with the survey.
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