World Journal of Zoology 8 (4): 388-391, 2013 ISSN 1817-3098 © IDOSI Publications, 2013 DOI: 10.5829/idosi.wjz.2013.8.4.75154 Application of Photographic Capture-Recapture Sampling for Estimating Abundance of Indian Mouse Deer Moschiola indica 12Amol Kumbhar, Charles Leo Prabhu, 1Jaya Kumar Yogesh, 2Pichaiyan Francies, 2Gaurang Patwardhan, 22Qamar Qureshi and Yadavendradev Jhala 1World Wide Fund for Nature - India, Nisha building, Near Forest Barrier, Katra, Mandla - 481661, Madhya Pradesh, India 2Wildlife Institute of India, P.O. Box: 18, Chandrabani, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India Abstract: The Indian Mouse Deer or Spotted Chevrotain (Moschiola indica) is a species of even-toed ungulate in the Tragulidae family found in India. Its nocturnal behaviour makes difficult to study its population size in forest In current paper we have tried to estimate population through camera trap capture-recapture sampling method in tropical semi-evergreen forest of Periyar Tiger Reserve. Estimated population for mouse deer was 108±25.8 and density was 21±2.1 per sqkm in our intensive study area of 114 sqkm. Method used in current paper can help to explore mouse deer status in Indian landscape. Key words: Density Indian Chevrotain Periyar Tiger Reserve Population Estimation INTRODUCTION For ungulates chital (Axix axis) has been uniquely identified using their spots pattern and population Mammals exhibit a rich and varied spectrum of coat estimation done by sighting - resighting using pattern [1]. The different types of natural marks that can photographs has been done [7]. Population assessment be used as photographic tags are particularly used for techniques like distance sampling for ungulates is not capture - recapture study when animals are difficult to applicable for mouse deer, alternative using mark capture - capture physically [2]. However, mouse deer have recapture techniques we can estimate abundance. historically been difficult to monitor because of it being However no protocol for individually identifying Mouse solitary, nocturnal and cryptic behavior as well as smallest deer is published. In this paper we estimated the deer in size. population and density of Indian chevrotain using their The Indian chevrotain or mouse deer Moschiola unique stripes and spots pattern for individual indica (Gray 1852) is distributed across Peninsular India, identification in a capture - recapture design using camera Nepal [3] and Sri Lanka [4]. The species is listed in trap. The following survey design was initially employed schedule -I of the Wildlife Protection Act (1972) and is to estimate the density of tiger and leopard within the categorized as least concern in the IUCN Red Data study site [8] and for the purpose of the study we Book [5]. Mouse deer is the smallest ruminant with analysed photographic captures of Indian chevrotain, body length 50 - 58 cm; Shoulder height 25 - 30 cm, Tail which was obtain during study. length 3cm and body weight about 3kg [5]. Body coat is Study area was Pe iyar Tiger Reserve (9°18’ - 9°41’ reddish brown with lighter spots and stripes on the body N & 76°55’ - 77°25’E), which covers an area of 777km2 , of [6]. tropical evergreen, semi evergreen and moist Corresponding Author: Amol Kumbhar, World Wide Fund for Nature - India, Nisha building, Near Forest Barrier, Katra, Mandla - 481661, Madhya Pradesh, India. 388 World J. Zool., 8 (4): 388-391, 2013 deciduous forests [9]. The elevation of Periyar Tiger Reserve ranges from 800 to 2019m with the highest point at Vellimala. The Periyar Lake, which was formed as a result of the construction of the Mullaiperiyar Dam, has a total area of 26km2 [10]. Major carnivores of Periyar include tiger (Panthera tigris), leopard (Panthera pardus), wild dog (Cuon alpinus) and jackal (Canis aureus). MATERIALS AND METHODS Camera trap was systematically distributed within the study area by superimposing a 2x2 km grid and deploying double sided camera unit Moultrie D-40 (www.moultriefeeders. com/game-spy-d40) of 36 trap locations covered Minimum Convex Polygon of 114km2 (Image 1). Total sampling effort accumulated to 2772 trap nights of 77 days. We first examined the reliability with which Indian chevrotain can be identified from their spots and stripes pattern following double-blind observer identifications [11]. We used body fore-, mid- and hind- quarters spots and stripes pattern (Figure 1) for individual identification, providing additional supplementary information about mouse deer identification to three investigators. We built capture histories in “X-matrix” format and associated model were estimated using programme CAPTURE in MARK [12, 13]. To use closed population model, the population should be demographically and geographically closed [12], to test our closure assumption program CloseTest 3 was used [14]. Fig. 1: Photographs of Indian Mouse deer (A) and (B) was same individuals and (C) showing differences in spots and stripes pattern which allow for individual identification. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Analysis was done with right flank of mouse deer which yielded maximum number of unique individual (Mt+1 ). A total of 90 photographs of Indian chevrotain were taken, 45 of left flank which identified 32 unique individuals and 47 of right flank with having 36 unique individuals were identified by all three Investigators. All the individual photo captures were identified by pelage pattern using their fore -, mid - and hind - quarter were consistent among all investigators, with not only number but also id that is each photo goes to same individually each observer being identified. The capture Image 1: Map of Periyar Tiger reserve shows camera probability (p - hat) of mouse deer was 0.005 for right flank point locations. which yielded the maximum number of captures. Model 389 World J. Zool., 8 (4): 388-391, 2013 Table 1: Population and density estimate of mouse deer in Periyar Tiger Reserve based on the best model suggested M(h) Jackknife, all three investigators were identified same numbers of individuals. Closure test ---------------------- No. Individuals identified XP2 Trap nights P- hat N ± SE ETA(km22 ) D ± SE /Km n = 36 32.7 0.2 2772 0.005 108±25.8 5.04 21.4±2.1 Note: n - Number of individuals identified, X2 - Chi -Square statistic for closure test, P -Capture probability, N - estimated population, SE -Standard error, D - Density of animal in effective trapping area. selection procedures in program CAPTURE resulted We demonstrate the potential to use camera trap in M(h) Jackknife as the appropriate model. The base mark capture -recapture for better population population size was 108 ± 25.8 (Table 1). We created assessment of the illusive nocturnal mouse deer. Such buffer on each camera trap site for calculate Effective estimates are needed for conservation and management of trapping area (ETA) for mouse deer was 5.04Km2 species. calculated from available home range 0.10 to 0.28 Km2 of related species of lesser mouse deer Tragulus javanicus ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS [15] and African water chevrotain Hyemoscus aquaticus [5]. Density calculated from effective trapping area, was We thank national tiger Conservation Authority 21.4 ± 2.1 /km2 . Population closure was observed to be for their financial support. We acknowledge the Director closed (X2 = 32.7; p = 0.28). and Dean of WII for their facilitation during study. We This study can further support that photographic thank Bidyut and Anil who participated as observer capture-recapture sampling through camera trap is reliable for individual identification of mouse deer from techniques to study abundance of mouse deer which is photographs. 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