Habitat preference of Himalayan Monal (Lophopohorus impejanus) in Langtang valley, Lamtang National Park, Nepal

Abstract

Himalayan 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.