We examined human and ecological attributes of attacks by tigers Panthera tigris and leopards Panthera pardus on humans in and around the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in the Chandrapur District of central India to provide recommendations to prevent or mitigate conflicts between people and large carnivores. During 2005–2011 132 carnivore attacks on humans occurred, 71 (54%) of which were lethal to humans. Tigers and leopards were responsible for 78% and 22% of attacks, respectively. Significantly more victims were attacked while collecting minor forest products than during other activities. Probability of attack significantly decreased with increasing distance from forests and villages, and attacks occurred most frequently in the forested north-eastern corridor of the study area. Human activities near the Reserve need to be regulated and limited as much as possible to reduce human mortality and other conflicts. Increasing access to alternative fuel sources (e.g. biogas, solar) may reduce the pressure of timber harvesting on protected areas. Residents should be trained in identifying carnivore sign and in ways to reduce their vulnerability when working outdoors.

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The status of early-successional habitats and wildlife species associated with them recently has become a concern in the eastern United States. Although federal farm programs have the potential to create earlysuccessional habitats for wildlife, relatively few studies have assessed wildlife response to these land use changes. During 2006-2007 we studied habitat factors associated with occupancy and detection of 2 species of lagomorphs, swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus) and eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus), in agricultural lands recently afforested via federal farm programs in southern Illinois. Lagomorphs were live captured, and habitat variables were measured at 27 bottomland sites. Detection probabilities of eastern cottontails and swamp rabbits were 0.44 (SE 5 0.05) and 0.12 (SE 5 0.03), respectively. Canopy closure (w + (i) . 0.94) had the most influence on detection probability for both eastern cottontails and swamp rabbits. Detection probability decreased with increasing canopy closure for eastern cottontails but increased with increasing canopy closure for swamp rabbits. Eastern cottontails and swamp rabbits were estimated to occupy 80% and 71% of sites, respectively. Little support was found for habitat variables influencing site occupancy by eastern cottontails. Distance to a semipermanently flooded or intermittently exposed wetland had the most influence (w + (i) 5 0.54) on the probability of site occupancy by swamp rabbits. Our study provides novel information regarding use of early-successional habitats by eastern cottontails and swamp rabbits and unique insight into how habitat structure and landscape configuration affect these 2 lagomorphs.

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Lagomorphs are important consumers and prey in ecosystems worldwide, but have declined due to land use changes and habitat loss, and such losses may be exacerbated for specialist species. We compared survival and habitat use of two closely related lagomorphs, the swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus (Bachman, 1837)), a bottomland hardwood (BLH) forest specialist, and the eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus (J. A. Allen, 1890)), a habitat generalist. We tested whether survival and habitat use differed between radio-collared swamp rabbits (n = 129) and eastern cottontails (n = 72) monitored during December 2009 – December 2013 in southern Illinois. We found interactive effects of species and season on survival rates: swamp rabbits had higher annual survival (0.37 ± 0.05 (estimate ± SE)) than did cottontails (0.20 ± 0.05), but this difference occurred primarily during the growing season. Swamp rabbits were located closer to watercourses in areas characterized by higher basal area and more mature BLH forest cover compared with eastern cottontails. Our results suggest that BLH forests may be marginal habitat for cottontails and indicate predation as the primary cause of mortality for both species. Swamp rabbits use of early-successional BLH forest suggests that restoration efforts have been successful. However, as specialists, swamp rabbits remain restricted to a narrow band of bottomlands near watercourses and may benefit from improved upland cover that serves as refugia from flooding.