Browsing by Subject "Habitat preference"
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Item Distribution and Abundance of Wild Mammals in Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park and Human- Wildlife Interaction in sundarijal VDC(Department of Zoology, 2015) Jha, Deependra KumarDistributionrefers to the spatial (or local)arrangement or pattern of a species within anarea where they are found.The abundance of populations in different parts of the Parkgives an indication of the distribution of the population. This study was aimed to assesshabitat characteristics and also to determine distribution, abundance and habitatpreferences of wild mammals. The pellet groups counting along line transect was carriedout in Shivapuri mountain of Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park and questionnaire surveywas conducted in Sundarijal VDC adjacent to SNNP. Four major habitat types namelySalla forest, Mixed forest, Riverine forest and Grassland. The Salla forest was dominatedby Pinus sp.; Mixed forest was dominated by Rhododendron arboretum, Alnusnepalensis, Schima wallichii, Castanopsis indicaetc.; Riverine forest was dominated bySyzigium cumini, Prunus cerrasoides etc. and Grasssland was dominated by Ficusneriifolia, Buddleja asiaticaetc. Total density of tree species in different habitat typeswere 254.75/ha in Salla forest, 219.75/ha in Mixed forest and 190.50 in Riverine forest. Atotal of 431 pellet groups were recorded from 100 quadrates in all four habitat types (25quadrates in each). Rhesus monkey, Squirrel, Jungle cat, Ghoral, Langur, Barking deer,Rat, hare were found as main mammal species occupying the different parts of SNNP.Rhesus monkey was more abundant (1.14/quadrate) among the mammalian speciesfollowed by Squirrel, Jungle cat, Ghoral, Barking deer, Langur and Rat among therecorded mammals. Among four habitat types, Salla forest was found highly preferred(13.23%) for Rhesus monkey followed by Grassland (11.14%) for Rhesus monkey, Sallaforest (5.34%) for Squirrel, Grassland (5.10%) for Hare etc. A non-parametricSpearman’s correlation coefficient between pellet groups abundance and tree density(r =0.87) andcorrelation coefficient betweenpellet groups abundance andcanopy coverage (r= 0.86) shows that there is a high positive correlation between the pellet groupsabundance and tree density as well as canopy coverage. There were 505 reported cases of wild boar in sample areas, which is followed bymonkeys, birds, deer, rats and bear. The total visit of wildlife was 1337. The highestpercentage 32.05 of Net Area Damage of crops by Wild boar followed by deer, monkeys,rats, birds and bears 18.34, 17.11, 12.18, 10.11, and 4.42 percentages respectively. Theloss of crop from Wild boar which was the highest amount of 32432.1 kg. It was in thefirst position of ranking of crop damage. Similarly, Rat in second position whichdestroyed 14314.15 kg of crop, Monkey in third position with 13568.5 kg crop damage.Item Habitat Preference and General Behavior of Blue Bull (Boselaphus Tragocamelus) in Lumbini Development Area, Rupandehi , Nepal(Department of Zoology, 2022) Pandey, PriyankaBlue bulls (Boselaphus tragocamelus) are found near human settlements and crops and fields outside the protected areas in lowland of Nepal. The study was conducted with main purpose to find out habitat preference and diurnal activity pattern of blue bull in Lumbini Development Area, one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites from Nepal during the month of 29 February to 31 March 2022. The land use land cover type of the area was classified to determine the available habitat types and habitat preference of blue bull were studied by direct observation of blue bull population in the area. A total of 73 individuals of blue bull were recorded during the study period along the 20 line transects each of 200 m – 300m length were surveyed. Major population of blue bull were found in grassland while less found in cultivated or agricultural land. The activities of the individuals of blue bull were recorded by using focal animal sampling and scan sampling methods to determine the diurnal time budget of blue bull in three observational phases 7:00am–10:30am, 10:30am–2:00pm, and 2:00pm–5:30pm (morning, afternoon and evening). The behavioral states recorded were grazing, locomotion, resting, alerting and other activities (running fighting). Blue bull spent maximum time in grazing, resting and locomotion, and no records of grooming and ruminating activities were recorded during the study period. Blue bull engaged maximum time in feeding during 7:00–10:30am and 2:00–5:30 pm when the temperature was low, while blue bull spent the greatest amount of time in resting in between 12:00 to 3:30 pm as temperature increases during the day time, hence blue bull spent more time in resting, rather than feeding. There was no significant difference in time spent in basic activities between male and female individuals.Item Habitat preference of Himalayan Monal (Lophopohorus impejanus) in Langtang valley, Lamtang National Park, Nepal(Department of Zoology, 2023) Rajak, Birat RajHimalayan monal (Lophophorus impejanus) is the national bird of Nepal and is a protected species in Nepal. Despite being protected, the species is highly hunted by poachers for food trade. This species is found in higher elevation in forest land, shrub land and forages in grassland. Its population status and habitat preference are largely unexplored and hence, proper management is lacking for its conservation. This study, conducted in Langtang Valley region in Lamtang National Park in the month of November (winter) for 14 days, aimed to explore the habitat preference and associated threats to Himalayan monal. Survey was done from Ghodatabela (3000 m asl) to Kyanjin Ri peak (4300 m asl) using route census method. A total of 86 individuals of Himalayan monals were observed from 30 occurrence sites within the elevational range between 3100 m asl and 3900 m asl. Himalayan monals preferred the shrubland habitats with an occurrence ratio of 1.43. Generalized Linear Mixed Modelling (GLMM) from the collected data for habitat preferences showed that environmental factors NDVI and distance from walking trail had statistically significant negative correlation with number of Himalayan monal indicating that with decrease in the value of NDVI and distance from walking trail the number of Himalayan monal tends to increase, while the distance from water source has marginal statistical significance with positive correlation suggesting that with increase in distance from water the number of Himalayan monal also tends to increase. This model suggests that NDVI, distance from walking trail and distance from water plays significant role in selection of habitat by Himalayan monal. The distribution of Himalayan monal around the Langtang Valley region (3400–3500 m) was low suggesting Himalayan monal avoided settlement areas with high anthropogenic pressure. The threat assessment of Himalayan monal using semi structured questionnaire survey with local people revealed that poaching, anthropogenic pressure and free livestock grazing are major threats to Himalayan monal in the study area.Item Habitat Preferences and Illegal Trade of Chinese Pangolin Manis pentadactyla (Linnaeus 1758) in Kavrepalanchowk District, Nepal(Faculty of Environmental Science, 2015) K.C., AnjuAvailable with full textItem Population Status, Habitat Preferences and Conservation Threats of Kalij Pheasant (Lophura leucomelana leucomelana) in Narmadeswor VDC, Okhaldhunga, East Nepal(Department of Zoology, 2014) Dhungel, SrijanaThis study aimed to estimate population status, habitat preferences and conservation threats of Kalij pheasant (Lophura leucomelana leucomelana) in Narmadeswor VDC, Okhaldhunga district. Roost survey method was used to collect data on population status of bird, habitat preferences index (HPI) method was used to assess the habitat preferences and conservation threats was evaluated by questionnaire survey. A total of an average of 14 individuals of Kalij pheasant were recorded from the study area in altogether four visits in April – June, August – September, October - December and January – March, 2011-2012 The result showed highest monthly density (5.55 individuals per sq. km.) in August - September and lowest (1.11 individuals per sq. km.) in March. Among four types of habitats, the closed forest with high understorey was most preferred by the Kalij (HPI = 1.30) followed by closed forest with low understorey (0.92), open forest (0.75) and terraced field (0.74). In Narmadeswor, 22 species of trees, 8 species of shrubs and 29 species of herbs, 8 species of climbers and 16 species of grass were recorded. Altogether 30 roosts were found, among the roosting trees Pinus roxburghii (50%) was mainly used by Kalij pheasant in the study area followed by Shorea robusta (33.33%), Mangifera indica (10%), Phyllanthus emblica (6.67%). Mean height, mean girth at breast height and mean height of lowest branch of roost tree was 9.69m, 0.92m and 5.27m respectively. Most of the respondents showed negative attitude towards Kalij in Narmadeswor areas. Evaluation of Conservation threats from the information given by respondents suggests feeding of Kalij pheasant on crops were the most important threat whereas other threats were fire wood collection, disturbance by people in the roost, timber collection, poaching, egg collection and grazing.