Establishing ecological baselines for long-term monitoring of tigers, co-predators and prey species in Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary and its adjoining landscape in Arunachal Pradesh Final Report Front cover: Tiger in community forest Back cover: Dhole pups in DWLS © Adhikarimayum & Gopi G.V., WII/NTCA/APFD Citation: Adhikarimayum, A. S., and Gopi, G. V. (2018). Establishing ecological baselines for long-term monitoring of tigers, co-predators and prey species in Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary and its adjoining landscape In Arunachal Pradesh. Technical report. Wildlife Institute of India. TR/2018/58 Project Title: Establishing ecological baselines for long-term monitoring of tigers, co-predators and prey species in Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary and its adjoining landscape in Arunachal Pradesh Principal Investigator: Dr. Gopi G.V. Endangered Species Management Department. Wildlife Institute of India Chandrabani Dehradun, Uttarakhand – 248001 Email: [email protected] Research Fellow: Mr. Aisho Sharma Adhikarimayum Funding Agency: National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) Collaborating Agency: Department of Environment and Forest, Arunachal Pradesh Advisors Dr. Rajesh Gopal Former Member Secretary, NTCA Dr. S.P. Yadav Former DIG, NTCA Dr. Nishant Verma, DIG, NTCA Duration: 3 Years (2014- 2017) Total Budget Rs. 39,50,000 i CONTENTS Page No CHAPTER 1 .......................................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Literature review ........................................................................................................................ 2 1.3 Tigers ........................................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 (a) Taxonomy ......................................................................................................................... 3 1.3 (b) Distribution ........................................................................................................................ 3 1.3 (c) Feeding and breeding ecology ...................................................................................... 3 1.3 (d) Population ecology .......................................................................................................... 4 1.4 Study justification ....................................................................................................................... 4 1.5 Objectives ................................................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER 2 .......................................................................................................................................... 6 STUDY AREA ....................................................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary and Dibang Valley District ......................................................... 6 2.2 Edaphic characters .................................................................................................................... 7 2.2 (a) Geology and soil .............................................................................................................. 7 2.2 (b) Terrain ............................................................................................................................... 7 2.2 (c) Climate and rainfall .......................................................................................................... 8 2.2 (d) Rivers ................................................................................................................................. 8 2.3 Ecological attributes .................................................................................................................. 8 2.3 (a) Floral diversity .................................................................................................................. 8 2.3 (b) Faunal diversity ................................................................................................................ 9 2.4 Study area selection .................................................................................................................. 9 CHAPTER 3 ........................................................................................................................................ 12 DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE OF TIGERS, CO-PREDATORS, AND PREY ............... 12 3.1 Background ............................................................................................................................... 12 3.2 Methodology and analytical methods ................................................................................... 13 3.2 (a) Sign survey ..................................................................................................................... 13 3.2 (b) Camera trapping ............................................................................................................ 13 3.3 Camera trap parameters ........................................................................................................ 16 3.4 Results ....................................................................................................................................... 16 3.5 Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 55 CHAPTER 4 ........................................................................................................................................ 60 FOOD HABITS AND PREDATION PATTERNS ........................................................................... 60 ii 4.1 Background ............................................................................................................................... 60 4.2 Methodology and analytical methods ................................................................................... 60 4.2 (a) Scat processing and laboratory procedure ................................................................ 60 4.2 (b) Biomass estimation ....................................................................................................... 60 4.2 (c) Estimation of prey selectivity ........................................................................................ 61 4.2 (d) Estimation of niche breadth and dietary overlap....................................................... 62 4.3 Temporal activity patterns of carnivores and their prey ..................................................... 62 4.4 Results ....................................................................................................................................... 63 4.5 Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 76 CHAPTER 5 ........................................................................................................................................ 79 SOCIO-ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT .............................................................................................. 79 5.1 Background ............................................................................................................................... 79 5.2 Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 79 5.2 (a) Questionnaire survey .................................................................................................... 79 5.3 Results ....................................................................................................................................... 81 5.4 Discussion ............................................................................................................................... 100 CHAPTER 6 ...................................................................................................................................... 103 CONCLUSION AND SYNTHESIS ................................................................................................. 103 6.1 Background ............................................................................................................................. 103 6.2 Threats to the protected area .............................................................................................. 104 6.3 Over exploitations of forest resources ................................................................................ 104 6.4 Tiger Reserve through community consensus .................................................................. 107 6.5 Future research perspectives .............................................................................................. 107 PLATE 1: Camera trap images of mammalian carnivore and forest dwelling ungulates in Dibang WLS ...................................................................................................................................... 109 PLATES 2: Photos taken during the study period ....................................................................... 133 References .......................................................................................................................................