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Assessing mammal diversity, distribution, and abundance: piloting arboreal camera trapping as a tool for monitoring endangered red panda in temperate forest of Eastern Nepal A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of International Nature Conservation at Lincoln University by Sonam Tashi Lama Lincoln University 2018 Abstract of a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of International Nature Conservation. Abstract Assessing mammal diversity, distribution, and abundance: piloting arboreal camera trapping as a tool for monitoring endangered red panda in temperate forest of Eastern Nepal by Sonam Tashi Lama I investigated the diversity, abundance and terrestrial activity patterns of medium and large sized wild mammals including a dedicated camera trapping survey for endangered and arboreal red pandas in the non-protected forests of Ilam, Panchthar, and Taplejung districtss of eastern Nepal. This thesis presents the first camera trap-based inventory of the southern Kangchenjunga region. The mammalian inventory was done during the winter and spring season of 2018 with 107 different camera trap locations (53 in winter and 54 in spring). The dedicated camera trapping survey for red panda camera was conducted in 19 different locations of Ilam and Panchthar districts using a pair of camera traps at each site (one on ground and one in tree canopy). There were 903 photographs (96 from ground camera and 807 from arboreal camera) of red panda from 1,620 camera trap days. Over 3,014 camera trap days there were 93,336 photographs taken (5,176 of wild mammals, 3,621 of birds, 11,692 of people, and livestock, 65,488 of false triggers and 6,061 during camera set ups). 5,177 photographs of medium to large sized mammals were used for the analysis in Camera Base. There were 17 species of medium to large sized wild mammals observed belonging to 4 orders and 12 families. Notable species records from this study were red panda Ailurus fulgens, common leopard Panthera pardus, marbled cat Pardofelis marmorata, Asiatic golden cat Catopuma temminckii, Himalayan serow Capricornis thar, Himalayan goral Naemorhedus goral, Assam macaque Macaca assamensis, Himalayan black bear Ursus thibetanus, and Spotted linsang Prionodon pardicolor. The leopard cat Prinonailurus bengalensis was found to have the most diverse distribution covering temperate to alpine habitat. The Northern red muntjac Muntiacus vaginalis was found to be the most abundant species followed by wild boar Sus scrofa, leopard cat, and red fox Vulpes vulpes. ii Despite some limitations, camera trapping was found to be effective in monitoring medium to large sized mammals in this study, particularly for red panda. Employing camera trap surveys for similar kinds of studies, and also for the long-term monitoring of mammals in a study area, is recommended for management of wildlife and effective conservation. Keywords: Camera trapping, Nepal, red panda, Ailurus fulgens, temperate forest, Eastern Himalaya, mammal diversity, endangered, mammal inventory, mammal diversity, arboreal camera trapping iii Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to thank Lincoln University, Russell E. Train Education for Nature/WWF, and The Greater Himalayas Foundation for Mingma Norbu Sherpa Memorial Scholarship attend Master of International Nature Conservation (MINC) at Lincoln University, New Zealand. Furthermore, I thank my supervisors, Associate Professor Dr Adrian Paterson and Senior lecturer Dr James Ross for supervising me throughout this study. Quick and timely comments by Adrian was very helpful in completing this thesis in time despite many pressures during the final hours. Additional acknowledgements belong to Ang Phuri Sherpa and Damber Bista from Red Panda Network (RPN) for allowing me to conduct this camera trapping study in eastern Nepal as part of RPN’s research project with funding support from Rotterdam Zoo, the Netherlands. The supports to extend my period at Lincoln University from Professor Dr David Simmons, Professor Dr Nick Dickinson and my supervisor, Adrian Paterson were unforgettable. Thank you all of you! In eastern Nepal, I would like to thank Nima Dawa Sherpa, Phinju Sherpa, Jeevan Rai, Deependra Sunar, Panjo Bhote, Gyajo Lama Bhote, and all other forest guardians of RPN for their fieldwork. Dhana Khamdak and Sunil Rai for their great field coordination. Pema Sherpa and Janno Wermann for training forest guardians. Jigme Tenzing Bhutia, Krishna Rai and Tenzing Yongden Bhutia for transferring the huge amount of camera trapping data to New Zealand. Ganga Ram Regmi for providing camera traps and Madan K. Suwal for preparing maps for this study and his statistical support. My wife Shrota Shrestha and William Godsoe for the statistical support. Sunil Tamang and Ngawang T. Sherpa for their assistance to sort the camera trap images. Asad, Alam, Xinglei and Sundar for the lovely chats in office and during tea breaks. I want to thank the Department of Forests (DOF), Ministry of Forests & Environment, Nepal for granting me research permit (72-2074/2075) promptly and Madhuri Karki at DOF Thapa for her facilitation. I would also like to thank Wildlife Conservation Network for the Handsel scholarship to attend my Goettingen semester. I want to thank Brian Williams (RPN) for nominating me for this scholarship. The WCN scholarship made my academic and family life better and easier. Thanks to Axel Gebauer, Martin Kaiser, and Annet for making my life in Berlin easy. Most importantly, I am thankful to my wife for taking care of our daughter in the absence of me. I missed Kunchhok Sonam a lot. I love you, both of you! Finally, I am thankful to all the wildlife of eastern Nepal who diligently posed in front of my camera traps. Thank you to those community people who took selfies with camera traps with keeping their eyes peeled into cameras but did not harm camera traps, you people are too good! iv Table of Contents Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... v List of Figures ............................................................................................................................. vii List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. viii Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 1 Background .................................................................................................................................1 1.2 Wild mammals of eastern Nepal, and their study ......................................................................4 1.3 Human-wildlife conflict in eastern Nepal ...................................................................................5 Red Panda Network ....................................................................................................................6 1.5 Mammalian inventory and study of their terrestrial activity patterns ......................................7 1.6 Camera trapping: a brief history, its application, and important documentation .....................8 Thesis structure ........................................................................................................................ 10 Chapter 2 Literature Review.................................................................................................... 11 Mammalian survey in Nepal .................................................................................................... 11 Ecology of red panda................................................................................................................ 12 2.2.1 Red panda, its global distribution, and legal status in range countires .......................12 2.2.2 Habitat requirement ....................................................................................................13 2.2.3 Birthing and sexual dimorphism ..................................................................................14 2.2.4 Home range and population density ...........................................................................14 2.2.5 Food habits and defecation pattern .............................................................................15 2.2.6 Use of tree by red panda ...............................................................................................16 2.2.7 Natural predators of red panda ....................................................................................17 2.2.8 Significance