Tigers of the Transboundary Terai Arc Landscape

98 Pages·2014·5.97 MB·English

by  Studio 3

TIGERS OF THE
TRANSBOUNDARY
TERAI ARC LANDSCAPE
Status, distribution and movement in the Terai of India and Nepal
Published by
Global Tiger Forum (GTF)
Designed by
Aspire Design | www.aspiredesign.in
Printed at
New Delhi
Credits WWF-India
Report lead: Dr. Jimmy Borah
Field work and analysis (contributors to the report):
Pranav Chanchani, Dr. Kamlesh Maurya, Ashish Bista, Rekha Warrier,
Shwetha Nair, Macson Almeida, Rohit Ravi and Ruchir Sharma
Field assistance: Sher Singh Bisht, Ram Bharsoe Lal, Kuldeep
Singh, Palu Chauhan, Santosh Kumar, Balwinder Singh, Data Ram,
Dharminder.
Report Preparation: Pranav Chanchani,
Dr. Kamlesh Maurya and Dr. Jimmy Borah
Administrative support: Dr. Mudit Gupta, Mr. Dabeer Hassan, Dr.
Harish Guleria, Mr. Joseph Vattakaven and Dr. Dipankar Ghose
Credits Nepal
Report lead team: Dr. Maheshwar Dhakal, Mrs. Madhuri Thapa,
Dr. Shant Raj Jnawali, Dr. Narendra M.B Pradhan and
Dr. Naresh Subedi
Field work: 268 people associated with DNPWC, DOF, NTNC, WWF
Nepal, International Trust for Nature Conservation, Nepal Army,
Nature Guide Association and students from Khwopa College, SchEMS
College, CDES, Tribhuvan University, Institute of Forestry (IOF),
Kathmandu University and KNIT Korea
Data analysis (contributors to the report): Sabita Malla,
Babu Ram Lamichhane, Gokarna Jung Thapa, Hemanta Yadav
Report Preparation: Sabita Malla and
Babu Ram Lamichhane
Administrative support: Mr. Ravi Pratap Singh,
Mr. Bhagwan Lal Shrestha, Mr. Bikram Kachhyapati, Mr. Khadga
Pariyar, Mr. Prabin Rayamajhi, Mr. Buddhi Chaudhary, Mr. Ram
Kumar Aryal, Mr. Bishwa Prakash Adhikari, Suman Malla, Mr.
Shailendra Yadav, Mr. Sriram Ghimire, Mr. Ramji Thapa
Cover Photo:
NTNC/DNPWC
Citation
Chanchani P., Lamichhane B. R., Malla S., Maurya K., Bista A., Warrier
R., Nair S., Almeida M., Ravi R., Sharma R., Dhakal M., Yadav S. P.,
Thapa M., Jnawali S. R., Pradhan N. M. B., Subedi N., Thapa G. J.,
Yadav H., Jhala Y. V., Qureshi Q., Vattakaven J. and Borah J. 2014.
WC Tigers of the Transboundary Terai Arc Landscape: Status, distribution
NP and movement in the Terai of India and Nepal. National Tiger
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C/ Conservation Authority, Government of India, and Department of
TN National Park and Wildlife Conservation, Government of Nepal
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TIGERS OF THE
TRANSBOUNDARY
TERAI ARC LANDSCAPE
Status, distribution and movement in the Terai of India and Nepal
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TERAI ARC LANDSCAPE
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORDS vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY xi
1. INTRODUCTION 1
The Terai Arc Landscape 1
Motivation for Coordinated Monitoring and Joint Reporting 5
Objectives 6
2. STUDY AREA 7
Protected Areas in the Transboundary TAL 10
Vegetation Types 13
Land Use and Management Practices 15
Socio-Economic 17
Institutional Setup for Tiger Survey 17
3. FIELD METHODS 19
Tiger Habitat Occupancy 19
Tiger Population Estimation 19
Capture-Recapture Sampling for Tigers 20
Sampling Effort 20
Line Transect Surveys for Prey-Base Density Estimation 21
Data Analysis 22
4. RESULTS 25
Tiger Distribution 25
Individual Identifi cation 27
Tiger Abundance and Density 27
Prey Density 29
Common Individuals Both in India and in Nepal 29
5. DISCUSSION 39
Tiger and Prey Species Distribution and Abundance 39
Transboundary Connectivity Status and Tiger Movement Across Borders 40
Fragmentation, Habitat Loss and Disturbance 41
Road and Railway Projects 42
Protection, Poaching and Trade 43
Habitat Quality, and Impacts of Hydropower Development and Climate Change 44
Cattle Grazing 45
Encroachment 46
Human-Tiger Confl ict 47
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TIGERS OF THE TRANSBOUNDARY
TERAI ARC LANDSCAPE
6. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 49
Advocacy and Policy Interventions 50
Strategic Restoration and Management of Key Habitat, Corridors
and Connectivity 51
Strengthening of Protection to Deter Poaching in Core, Buffer-Zone and
Corridor Areas 54
Community Stewardship in Conservation 55
Research and Monitoring 56
REFERENCES 59
APPENDIX - I 65
Site specifi c threats and recommendations for the tiger conservation in
transboundary TAL
APPENDIX - II 79
Tiger abundance and density estimates in the PAs of transboundary TAL
APPENDIX - III 81
Management regimes, roles and responsibilities in Nepal and India
APPENDIX - IV 82
Summary of camera trap efforts in transboundary protected areas
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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
FIGURES
Figure 1 Terai Arc Landscape 4
Figure 2 Protected areas and corridors in Transboundary TAL 10
Figure 3 Tiger habitat occupancy survey design, Terai Arc
Landscape Nepal 19
Figure 4 Line Transect survey design (Example from Parsa
Wildlife Reserve in Nepal) 21
Figure 5 Tiger of Chitwan NP (top) and Valmiki TR (bottom) showing
100% match 24
Figure 6 Tiger capture locations in transboundary TAL (black
dots: tiger capture location; red dots: camera location) 25
Figure 7 Tiger habitat occupancy in Terai Arc Landscape, Nepal 26
Figure 8 Site occupancy for tigers in a portion of the
transboundary TAL in India 26
Figure 9 Tiger density across the transboundary Terai Arc Landscape. 28
Figure 10 Common Tigers between Chitwan NP, Nepal and Valmiki
Tiger Reserve, India 30
Figure 11 Movement of common tigers detected in Chitwan
-Valmiki Complex 31
Figure 12 Common tigers between Katerniaghat WLS and Khata
corridor (Bardia) 32
Figure 13 Tiger movement in Bardia-Khata-Katerniaghat complex 34
Figure 14 Photographic evidence of the Khata male 35
Figure 15 Common tigers between Shuklaphanta WR and Laggabagga 36
Figure 16 Tiger Movement between Shuklaphanta and Laggabagga 37
Figure 17 The proposed road along the Indo-Nepal border in
Terai Arc Landscape 42
Figure 18 Block 1, Western block of Transboundary TAL 51
Figure 19 Block 2, Central block of Transborder TAL 52
Figure 20 Block 3, Eastern block of Transborder TAL 53
Figure 21 Block 4: Large patch of forest in Nepal TAL between eastern
and central blocks 54
TABLES
Table 1 Transboundary Protected Areas in Nepal and
India in the Terai Arc Landscape 8
Table 2 Transboundary corridors in Nepal and India in the
Terai Arc Landscape 9
Table 3 Minimum tiger numbers and density estimates in PAs of
transboundary TAL 28
Table 4 Prey base density estimates in PAs of transboundary TAL 29
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FOREWORD
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