Report on Sloth Bear Habitats, Assessment of Human-Bear Conflict and Identification of Suitable Corridors for Wildlife ConservationSloth Bears of in Mirzapur, District 2017 Mirzapur of Uttar Pradesh SLOTH BEARS OF MIRZAPUR DEBADITYO SINHA LAXMI GOPARAJU SHIVA KUMAR UPADHYAYA MUKESH KUMAR OMESH REXWAL World Wide Fund for Nature-India Vindhyan Ecology and Natural History Foundation Sloth Bears of Mirzapur, 2017 Using Rights This publication is available free for access, copy and re-distribute under Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivatives India license (CC BY ND 2.5 IN) Citation Sinha, Debadityo, Laxmi Goparaju, Shiva Kumar Upadhyaya, Mukesh Kumar, and Omesh Rexwal. ‘Report on Sloth Bear Habitats, Assessment of Human-Bear Conflict and Identification of Suitable Corridors for Wildlife Conservation in District Mirzapur’. Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh (India): World Wide Fund for Nature-India and Vindhyan Ecology and Natural History Foundation, 30 March 2017. Cover Photo: Sketch of Sloth Bear, available under free license from Pearson Scott Foresman. Corresponding Author Debadityo Sinha [email protected] +91-9540857338 WWF India Address 172-B, Lodi Estate, New Delhi-110003 http://wwfindia.org VENHF Address Vindhya Bachao Secretariat, 36/30, Shivpuri Colony, Station Road, Mirzapur-231001 http://vindhyabachao.org ii Sloth Bears of Mirzapur, 2017 Financial support Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF)-India Small Grants Programme Research & Publication support iii Sloth Bears of Mirzapur, 2017 CONTRIBUTORS Debadityo Sinha Vindhyan Ecology and Natural History Foundation Role: Principal Investigator Dr. Laxmi Goparaju Vindhyan Ecology and Natural History Foundation Role: Mentor and Supervisor Shiva Kumar Upadhyaya Vindhyan Ecology and Natural History Foundation Role: Field Support and Coordination Mukesh Kumar Banaras Hindu University Role: Field Support Omesh Rexwal Banaras Hindu University Role: Field Support iv Sloth Bears of Mirzapur, 2017 CONTENTS CONTRIBUTORS........................................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF MAPS .............................................................................................................................................. viii FOREWORD .................................................................................................................................................... ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................................................................ x SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................................ 1 Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 7 1.1 About Mirzapur ........................................................................................................................................................................ 7 1.2 About Sloth Bear ................................................................................................................................................................... 10 A. Distribution ..................................................................................................................................................................... 10 B. Feeding Habit ................................................................................................................................................................. 11 C. Home Range and Behaviour .................................................................................................................................. 12 D. Breeding ............................................................................................................................................................................ 13 Chapter 2: SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ..................................................................................... 15 Chapter 3: DESCRIPTION OF STUDY AREA ................................................................................... 17 3.1 Climate and Topography ................................................................................................................................................. 17 3.2 Vegetation ................................................................................................................................................................................ 18 3.3 Wildlife ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 20 Chapter 4: METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................. 23 Chapter 5: FIELD OBSERVATIONS ..................................................................................................... 25 5.1 Marihan Forest Range ....................................................................................................................................................... 26 5.2 Chunar and Sukrit Forest Range ................................................................................................................................. 33 5.3 Patehara Forest Range ...................................................................................................................................................... 40 5.4 Dramadganj Forest Range .............................................................................................................................................. 46 Chapter 6: ASSESSING THE SLOTH BEAR ATTACKS ................................................................. 52 6.1 Explanation for attacks ‘inside’ forests of Patehara, Marihan and Sukrit .......................................... 54 6.2 Explanation for attacks inside ‘forests’ of Marihan and Sukrit ................................................................ 54 6.3 Explanation for attacks in ‘village’ Banjari Kala ................................................................................................ 55 6.4 How to be safe from Sloth Bear attack? .................................................................................................................. 56 Chapter 7: MAJOR THREATS ................................................................................................................ 58 7.1 Landscape Change ....................................................................................................................................................... 58 i) Urbanization ..................................................................................................................................................................... 59 ii) Agricultural Expansion................................................................................................................................................. 62 iii) Mining .................................................................................................................................................................................. 63 7.2 Deforestation/Loss of Forests .............................................................................................................................. 65 v Sloth Bears of Mirzapur, 2017 7.3 Excessive Grazing ......................................................................................................................................................... 66 7.4 Roads, Rail & Canals ................................................................................................................................................... 67 7.5 Forest Fires ...................................................................................................................................................................... 69 7.6 Hunting .............................................................................................................................................................................. 70 7.7 Exotic Species ................................................................................................................................................................. 71 A. Lantana camara ..................................................................................................................................................................... 71 B. Hyptis suaveolens ................................................................................................................................................................ 73 Chapter 8: MYTHS ..................................................................................................................................... 75 8.1 Most of the conflicts are result of animals mistakenly straying from neighboring Protected Areas .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 75 8.2 Landscape change has nothing to do with decrease in wildlife ...............................................................