Habitat and Feeding Ecology of Alpine Musk Deer (Moschus Chrysogaster) in Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttarakhand, India

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Habitat and Feeding Ecology of Alpine Musk Deer (Moschus Chrysogaster) in Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttarakhand, India See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279062545 Habitat and feeding ecology of alpine musk deer (Moschus chrysogaster) in Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttarakhand, India Article in Animal Production Science · January 2015 DOI: 10.1071/AN141028 CITATIONS READS 0 41 2 authors: Zarreen Syed Orus Ilyas Wildlife Institute of India Aligarh Muslim University 6 PUBLICATIONS 0 CITATIONS 21 PUBLICATIONS 17 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative View project All in-text references underlined in blue are linked to publications on ResearchGate, Available from: Orus Ilyas letting you access and read them immediately. Retrieved on: 26 September 2016 CSIRO PUBLISHING Animal Production Science http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/AN141028 Habitat preference and feeding ecology of alpine musk deer (Moschus chrysogaster) in Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttarakhand, India Zarreen Syed A and Orus Ilyas B,C AWildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, 248001, India. BDepartment of Wildlife Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, 202002, India. CCorresponding author. Email: [email protected] Abstract. The alpine musk deer, Moschus chrysogaster, a small member of family Moschidae, is a primitive deer threatened due to poaching and habitat loss, and therefore classified as Endangered by IUCN and also listed in Appendix I of CITES. Although the species is legally protected in India under Wildlife Protection Act 1972, conservation of the species requires better understanding of its distribution and resource-use pattern; therefore, a study on its feeding and habitat ecology was conducted from February 2011 to February 2014, at Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is one of the known remaining habitats for musk deer in India. Four locations, namely, Shokhark I, Shokhark II, Tungnath and Chandrashila, were intensively monitored and further categorised on the basis of habitats and altitudinal gradient. The habitat overlap between musk deer and all other ungulate species of the area was calculated through Pianka’s overlap index. The results indicated a large overlap between musk deer and Himalayan tahr. Species dietary spectra were studied using microhistological techniques for faecal pellet-group analysis coupled with Bonferroni approach. The dicotyledon to monocotyledon ratios were found to be 73.62–26.38% and 52.016– 47.984% in the pre- and post-monsoon seasons, respectively. The study showed that the musk deer is predominantly a browser. The most preferred plant species of the animals were found to be Gaultheria trichophylla, Ophiopogon intermedius., Cyperus sp. and Sibbaldia cuneata. During the field survey, opportunistic sightings of the species were also recorded. The species was found to be restricted to areas where the density of preferred vegetation was high. Therefore, it is recommended to provide strict protection to the areas such as Shokhark. Additional keywords: feeding habit, habitat overlap, microhistology. Received 26 December 2014, accepted 30 April 2015, published online 22 June 2015 Introduction unique niche, thus allowing their coexistence (Whitfield 2002; The alpine musk deer, Moschus chrysogaster, is a small member Bagchi et al. 2003a, 2003b). Ecological isolation in temporal of a primitive deer family named Moschidae. Being under high and spatial scales governs the co-existence of species and the pressure from centuries of poaching for musk pods and extensive sympatric species discriminate themselves at being in one place, habitat loss, this elegant species is rapidly disappearing from by showing isolation in terms of the use of various resources, its previous range of distribution (Green 1985). The species is which governs their habitat-use pattern (Dar et al. 2012). Several classified as Endangered in IUCN Red List Data (IUCN 2014) resource axes exist that could be partitioned by the species and and is also listed in Appendix I of CITES (2003). Although the if there is complete overlap between two species at one niche species is legally protected in India under Wildlife Protection Act axis, there must be partitioning along another unmeasured 1972, illegal poaching is still going on, more particularly in the axis (Schoener 1974; Bagchi et al. 2003a, 2003b). Hence, a border areas of the country. In the present scenario, the continuum habitat-overlap study is important in understanding community of its distribution is broken into small fragments that have organisation and depends on the measurement of how organisms subpopulations in isolated pockets of the Himalayas (Green utilise and share their environment, and also plays an important 1986a; Sathyakumar 1991, 1992; Sathyakumar et al. 1993a). role in the efforts to generate sufficient knowledge for effective This situation further deepens the risk to its survival viability as wildlife management (Otis 1997; Dar et al. 2012). it increases the danger of genetic drift. It was realised that understanding the musk deer food In the present study, one of the objectives was to examine preferences and changes resulting from biotic influences are habitat overlap between musk deer and other ungulate species, also important in interpreting relationships between environment e.g. Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus), sambar (Rusa and species (Leopold and Krausman 1987). In the case of musk unicolor), goral (Naemorhedus goral) and the livestock of the deer, observing while feeding was not possible in natural area. It was hypothesised that each species is adapted to utilise a conditions as the species is very shy. Therefore, pellet groups Journal compilation Ó CSIRO 2015 www.publish.csiro.au/journals/an B Animal Production Science Z. Syed and O. Ilyas were collected and analysed to assess the feeding habits of this receives 3000 mm of annual precipitation, of which ~60% falls species. Studies on feeding habits, using the microhistological during the monsoon season (June–August). The relative humidity technique for the identification of diet constituents, have appeared varies from 35% to 85% annually. There is moderate to heavy in the literature after Baumgartner and Martin (1939). Denham snowfall during December–February, even in low-altitude areas (1965) and Sparks and Malechek (1968)verified the technique by (Bhat et al. 2013). Temperatures are highest in May–June before hand-compounding mixtures of grasses and forbs. the arrival of monsoon, and are lowest in the first week of The work on conservation and management of wildlife is often January. The area is snow bound for 3 months in the year, hampered due to non-availability of data on species presence and following heavy snowfalls in December (Green 1986; Pande habitats occupied (Kushwaha and Roy 2002). Conservation of et al. 2001; Singh 2009). alpine musk deer requires a good understanding of its ecology, Owing to connection with timber line which support especially habitat and feeding ecology; therefore, a study on seasonal succession and distributional pattern, the alpine the habitat overlap and feeding ecology of the species was vegetation of this area has many characteristic features. Some conducted in the Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, providing important plants that separate the alpine zone from timber line baseline information for managers to develop strategies to are Clematis montana, Berberis edgeworthiana, Hypericum conserve the species. hookerianum, Rhododendron campanulatum and R. arboreum in the south-facing slopes and Anemone spp., Skimmia spp., Materials and methods Geum spp. and Trillium govanianum in the north-west-facing Study site slopes. The plant species that appear soon after the snow melt are Primula denticulata, Oxygraphis polypetala and Gentiana spp., The Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary (KWLS) spreads over an area 2 immediately followed by Rannunculus spp., Anemone obtusiloba, of 975 km (Fig. 1) and is situated in the north-eastern part of Potentilla spp., Pedicularis spp., Senecio spp., Saussurea spp., 0– 0 0– 0 the Garhwal Himalayas, 30 25 30 41 N, 78 55 79 22 E. It is Polygonum spp. and others during July–August. In the alpine bordered by high mountain peaks Kedarnath (6940 m), zone, the plants observed in the late-flowering season are Mandani (6193 m) and Chaukhamba (7068 m) in the north, Delphinium spp., Selinum vaginatum, Tanacetum longifolium – – Gopeshwar Chopta Ukhimath motor road in the south, and Taraxacum officinale. Some plants such as Oxygraphis Urgam Reserve Forest (RF) in the east and by the river polypetala, Rannunculus spp. and Gentiana spp. reflower at the – Mandakini and Chamoli Uttar Kashi district boundaries in the end of the season, during October–November (Semwal and west. The altitude varies from 1200 m (near Phata) to 7068 m Gaur 1981). (Chaukhumba peak) (Sathyakumar et al. 1994). This protected area was named after the famous 8th century Hindu Shrine at Data collection Kedarnath (3562 m) situated close to its northern boundary and which is one of the five ‘Kedars’. An intensive study area of Four sites, namely Shokhark I, Shokhark II, Tungnath and ~4 km2 was selected in the southern region of the sanctuary in Chandrashila, with known species presence were selected on and around the Tungnath area (30300N, 79150E). The study the basis of past studies (Green 1985; Sathyakumar 1994; Ilyas area included Shokhark, Tungnath and Chandrashila zones, 2007).
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