Trend Analysis of Marked Leopard Panthera Pardus Captured and Recaptured Around Gir Protected Area, Gujarat

2004·1.5 MB·

by  B P Pati

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
TREND ANALYSIS OF MARKED LEOPARD PANTHERA PARDUS
3.
CAPTURED AND RECAPTURED AROUND GIR PROTECTED AREA, GUJARAT
OneofthemostimportantmanagementpracticesinGir peripheral revenue areas ofthe Gir Forest. This study was
National ParkandSanctuaryistherescueorcaptureofinjured, intended to analyze the data on captured and recaptured
distressedorproblematiclargecarnivoreslikeLion(Panthera animals to identify the problematic ones and to know
leo persica) and Leopard (Panthera pardus) which stray their movement in and around the Gir PA. It is based on 38
intoperipheralvillagesandrevenueareas(Singhand Kamboj cases of captured and released leopards during 2001 and
1996). The expert rescue teams from the Wildlife Division, 2002.
Sasan-Gir,normallyundertaketherescueorcaptureoperation
withthehelpoflocalstaff.Although both lionsand leopards Findings
areregularlyrescuedthroughouttheyearfromtheperipheral Thirty-eight leopards were captured from the areas
villages, leopards pose a serious threat to the lives of the surroundingGirNational Park and SanctuarybetweenApril
locals by straying very close to human habitation and 2001 and February 2002. This included 19 females and
attackinghumanbeings(Prater 1997).Agreaterfearpsychosis 19 males. The age group ofcaptured leopards ranged from
prevailsfrom leopardmovementthan fromthe lions amongst c. 1'Ato 13years. Majorityofanimals(n=29,76%)wereadults
the people in the areas surrounding Gir. The Gir PA i.e. morethan4yearsofage.Thecapturedleopardsaremainly
management, after recognizing the threat, immediately acts released inthecorezoneareas(mainlyNational Park)ofGir
to capture the straying leopards. The leopards rescued and ForestlikeMiyakuan,LaptaniandPatriara.Talalasub-district
—
captured in peripheral areas by the Forest Department are recorded the maximum 12 leopard captures, followed by
the ones responsible for human injury or death, and have Una sub-district with seven cases. Rescues from other sub-
createdfearamongthevillagersduetoregularmovements in districtsare:Visavadar(3 cases),Sutrapada(4cases),Kodinar
farms and residential areas, or those that have fallen (4 cases), Maliya (4 cases) Khamba (2 cases), Mendarda (1
accidentally into farm wells, be suffering from illness or case) and Ranavav (lease). It is known that majority of
injury. capturestookplaceinthesouthernareasofGirForest,which
Dependinguponthefieldsituation,trapcagewithbait, may be due to extensive cultivation of sugarcane and
ropes (for rescue from wells) or chemical tranquilization is presence oflargetracts ofmango orchard (Vijayan and Pati
used to capture the animal. The captured leopards are then 2001). Themajorityofcapturesweremainlyfrom farmlands
brought back to the Wildlife Treatment Centre, where they (21 cases,fivespecificallyfromsugarcane),followedbyfarm
arekeptunderobservation orfortreatment.Aftersometime, wells (7 cases), villages (7 cases) and buildings (2 cases).
thehealthy animalsaregenerally released intothecorezone The leopards that were caught from farmlands and
of the forest area (National Park). But before release, the villageswere mainlydueto fearamongthepeople, butsome
animals are fitted with tags or microchips for identification were actually involved in attacks on human. Six leopards
and to record future recapture from other areas. The plastic were involved in attacks on humans that took place in
eartags are colourcoded, serially numbered, and are in two farmlands (2 cases), villages (2 cases), and buildings
identical halves, which are fixed to the ear using special (2 cases). Two leopards were shifted to Sakkarbaug Zoo,
pliers. The animal can be identified by its colour and the Junagadh, due to cases of established human deaths.
number can be read through binoculars. The microchips Majority ofthe rescued or captured leopards were healthy
are placed at the base of the tail, between skin and (95%) and only two cases had some injury related
muscle, subcutaneously. Each microchip has a distinctive problems.
number, which can be read by a machine. The numbers, From the 38 leopards that were rescued from various
with details of the captured animal, are recorded for areasandreleased intothecoreareaofGirforest,fouranimals
future comparison. Microchips have an advantage over were caught for the second time and one was captured for
the tag method. The tag can be seen on the animals, the third time (seeTable 1). The period between release and
and creates a fear psychosis among the locals, who subsequent recapture of leopard from other areas ranged
think of marked animals as being problematic. from 1 1 days to six months. Leopards recaptured for the
Sometimes this leads to unpleasant situations during rescue second time were mostly found from different areas, some
operations. werefound veryclosetotheearliercapturesite.Thedistance
Some leopards do not remain confined to theirareaof between the site of first capture and subsequent recapture
release due to unknown reasons and stray out again to the ranged from 2.2 km to 33 km. A leopard caught forthethird
440 J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 101 (3), Sep-Dec 2004
1
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
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J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 101 (3), Sep-Dec 2004 441
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MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
timewas recapturedfrom Jasapur(Talala subdistrict)where
it had been caught earlier. The maximum distance travelled
by a leopard, before being caught again, was 47 km (from Wethanktherescueteammembersandlocal fieldstaff
Devkarnia (NP) to Sukhpur in Maliya subdistrict). Of all ofGirfortheirexemplaryworkinconservingimportantflagship
leopardsthatwererecapturedfrom peripheralareas,twowere specieslikelionsandleopards. WealsothankShriB.J. Pathak,
involved in attackon humans, one had killed livestock, and Conservator of Forests, Wildlife Circle, Junagadh for his
the rest were captured due to fear and disturbances to comments and suggestions.
humans.
In 1996, amale Leopard captured from avillage farm October 1,2002 B.P.PATI1
well in Kodinar sub-district and subsequently tagged and R.K.H1RAPARA
released insidetheforestarea, hadmigratedto Dharoi village R.B.SOLANK1
inMehsanadistrict(NorthGujarat),where itwasshot inside S.V1JAYAN
a house by the Police Department for the safety ofpeople. GirNationalParkandSanctuary,
The leopardhadtravelled340km(within 8months)fromthe Sasan-Gir,Gujarat362 135, India.
areaofrelease. 'Email:[email protected]
REFERENCES
Prater, S.H. (1997): The Book ofIndian Animals. Bombay Natural Vijayan, S. & B.P. Pati (2001): Impact of changing cropping
History Society. Bombay. pattern on man-animal conflicts around Gir PA with
Singh,H.S.& R.D. Kamboj(1996): Biodiversityconservationplanfor specificreferencetoTalalaTaluka.IndianForester 127: 1121-
Gir. GujaratStateForest Department, Gujarat. 1133.
SPECIES OF BARKING DEER (GENUS MUNTIACUS
4.
IN THE EASTERN HIMALAYAN REGION
Thebarkingdeerormuntjacsaresmall,solitary,cryptic The purpose of this note is to describe their known
forest dwellers found throughout southern and eastern Asia geographic range and point to their possible occurrence in
from India through China, Indochina, and Malaysia, to Indiaand elsewhere in the eastern Himalayan region.*
Indonesia. Two species have long been known from the
eastern Himalayan region. The Red Muntjac (Muntiacus LeafDeer(Muntiacusputaoensis)
muntjak)isrelativelycommonandwidelydistributed,whereas The Leaf Deer, so named because local hunters wrap
the Chinese or Reeves’ Muntjac (M reevesi) is confined to their kill into large Phrynium leaves, is a diminutive fawn-
southeast China, east ofabout 100° E. Duringthe 1990sthe colouredmuntjac,weighingabout 12 kg,withspikeantlersin
discovery oftwo new muntjac species and the rediscovery males up to 5 cm long. The conspicuous canines are ofthe
ofathird species in theAnnamite Mountains alongthe Lao- same size in males and females, an unusual condition in
Vietnam border focused attention of zoologists on this muntjacs (Rabinowitz et al. 1999). It was discovered in
ancient lineageofcervids(Groves andSchaller2000,Amato secondary and old-growth evergreen broad-leafed forest
etal. 2000). In 1997,yetanothernewspecieswasdiscovered northeastofPutaoinnorthern Myanmar(26°58'N,96°09'E)
in Myanmar(Burma) and named LeafDeer(M putaoensis) atelevationsofaround 800-2,000m(Rabinowitzand Khaing
by Rabinowitz et al. (1999). That year, the Black Muntjac 1998, Rabinowitz et al. 1999).Analysis ofits mitochondrial
(M crinifrons),previouslyknownonlyfrom China,wasalso DNA confirmed it as a new species most closely related to
found in Myanmar, extending its recorded range by about two other small muntjacs (M. rooseveltorum, M.
1,750km(RabinowitzandKhaing 1998,Rabinowitzetal. 1998). truongsonensis) in the Annamite Mountains (Amato et al.
AlthoughtheLeafDeerand BlackMuntjacwereeach initially 2000). We now have additional specimen records from the
found only within small areas, our recent work has shown Hponkan Raziarea(27° 30'N,97°09'E),theHukaungvalley
these species to have a much more extensive distribution. (26°58'N,96°09'E),andneartheSaramati massif(25°42'N,
*This note was submitted for publication in March 2002. In it we predict that two muntjac species new to India might occur within its
borders.OneofthesewasdiscoveredinNovember2002. See,AparajitaDattaetal. 2003,DiscoveryoftheLeafDeerMuntiacusputaoensis
inArunachal Pradeshanadditiontothe largemammalsofIndia. CurrentScience84:454-458.
442 J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 101 (3), Sep-Dec 2004