Habitat selection and seasonal diet analysis of Himalayan Musk deer ( Moschus chrysogaster, Hodgson 1839) and livestock in Mustang, Nepal

Abstract

The Himalayan Musk Deer (Moschus chrysogaster) is a small member of family Moschidae and classified as “endangered” by IUCN, “Appendix I” by CITES and legally protected under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1973. To conserve this species, their habitat features, resource-use pattern and potential negative effects of livestock grazing should be known. Therefore, a study was focused on their feeding and habitat ecology with the livestock and; conducted in winter and summer seasons of 2015 at Mustang district of Annapurna Conservation Area. Three location of Jomsom VDC of Mustang district; Obang, Chhamachoo Lake and Raniban were intensively monitored. The presence and absence data of Musk Deer and livestock were recorded based on indirect signs of fecal pellets, footprints and resting site along with the transect on the basis of elevational gradient and associated topographic features (elevation, slope, aspect, distance to water, ground cover and crown cover) also recorded. Using logistic regression model, it was found that slope (Estimate=0.0877, P<0.05, S.E=0.02969) and ground cover (Estimate= -0.0340, P<0.05, S.E=0.0163) in the area significantly affect the likelihood of habitat selection by Musk Deer. In particular, they selected the steep slope of the area with less vegetation cover of ground area whereas low altitude with high vegetation of ground area significantly selected by livestock. The habitat overlap between Musk Deer and livestock of the area was calculated through Jaccard’s similarity index. The result (J=0.33) indicated that habitat less overlap existed between Musk Deer and livestock. Diet analysis were done using micro-histological techniques. A total of 26 and 25 plant species found in the diet of Musk Deer and livestock respectively: in winter season whereas 24 and 26 plant species in summer season; respectively. Tree and shrub contributed the major percentage of diet to Musk Deer and livestock in both seasons. The study showed that the both Musk Deer and livestock were selective feeder. The most preferred plants species for Musk Deer were Abies spectabilis, Pinus wallichiana and Berberis asiatica; and for livestock it were Pinus wallichiana, Abies spectabilis and Hedysarum kumaonense, The diet overlap was calculated by Simplified Morisita’s index (Cλ ). The result showed high diet overlap between Musk Deer and livestock in the both seasons (Winter Cλ =0.57, Summer Cλ =0.71). Similar studies are to be conducted in other parts of nation to explore their status, habitat evaluation, diet composition and; grazing impact of livestock on it. Keywords: Diet overlap, grazing impact, habitat overlap, micro-histological, selective feeder