Injury and death from wildlife attacks often result in people feeling violent resentment and hostility against the wildlife involved and, therefore, may undermine public support for conservation. Although Nepal, with rich biodiversity, is doing well in its conservation efforts, human-wildlife conflicts have been a major challenge in recent years. The lack of detailed information on the spatial and temporal patterns of human-wildlife conflicts at the national level impedes the development of effective conflict mitigation plans. We examined patterns of human injury and death caused by large mammals using data from attack events and their spatiotemporal dimensions collected from a national survey of data available in Nepal over five years (2010–2014). Data were analyzed using logistic regression and chi-square or Fisher's exact tests. The results show that Asiatic elephants and common leopards are most commonly involved in attacks on people in terms of attack frequency and fatalities. Although one-horned rhinoceros and bears had a higher frequency of attacks than Bengal tigers, tigers caused more fatalities than each of these two species. Attacks by elephants peaked in winter and most frequently occurred outside protected areas in human settlements. Leopard attacks occurred almost entirely outside protected areas, and a significantly greater number of attacks occurred in human settlements. Attacks by one-horned rhinoceros and tigers were higher in the winter, mainly in forests inside protected areas; similarly, attacks by bears occurred mostly within protected areas. We found that human settlements are increasingly becoming conflict hotspots, with burgeoning incidents involving elephants and leopards. We conclude that species-specific conservation strategies are urgently needed, particularly for leopards and elephants. The implications of our findings for minimizing conflicts and conserving these imperiled species are discussed.

SummaryAim The aim of the research was to understand the distribution pattern of butterflies along attitudinal and disturbance gradients in a trekking corridor in Sikkim, India.Location Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve, West Sikkim, India. Material and MethodsThe study focused on two sets of data, one on inventory of species along the trekking corridor and the other on butterfly species and their numbers along the 19 permanent plots measuring 30x40m. Among the 19 plots, four each was laid in degraded forests (canopy cover <40%) and undisturbed forests (canopy cover >40%) within the warm temperate broadleaf forest (1780-2350 m), and five and six in degraded and undisturbed forest respectively in cool temperate sub-alpine forest (2350-3600 m). The surveys were conducted thrice a season for two seasons. All individuals recorded from the 114 pseudo replicate plots (19 plots, 3 times a season for 2 seasons) and the casual observations were considered for preliminary analysis for dominant families.Key findings Among the 189 species recorded, Nymphalidae family was dominant (44%) followed by Lycanidae (19%) and the least number of species was recorded from Riodinidae (1%). Likewise, 69% of the species recorded were found to be 'fairly common' , 16% 'common' and 11% rare. The highest number of species per transect was recorded from the disturbed condition (7.1±0.7 Standard Error) at warm temperate broadleaf forest (WTBF) followed by undisturbed condition (6.7±0.8) and the least was recorded at the undisturbed condition (4.1±0.5) of cool temperate subalpine forest (CTSF). Similarly, the butterfly species diversity, its richness and evenness significantly differed between the forest types i.e. WTBF and CTSF and showed negative correlation along altitudinal gradients. Conservation implications Study concludes that the human interventionsand tourism enterprises are bringing subtle changes in butterfly habitat and may have major effects on some of the habitat specific species if they are not seriously considered in the management interventions.

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Zoonosis-based epidemics are inevitable unless we revisit our relationship with the natural world, protect habitats, and regulate wildlife trade, including live animals and non-sustenance products. To prevent future zoonoses, governments must establish effective legislation addressing wildlife trade, protection of habitats, and reduction of the wildlife–livestock–human interface.

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BackgroundA crucial step in conserving biodiversity is to identify the distributions of threatened species and the factors associated with species threat status. In the biodiversity hotspot of the Himalaya, very little is known about which locations harbour the highest diversity of threatened species and whether diversity of such species is related to area, mid-domain effects (MDE), range size, or human density. In this study, we assessed the drivers of variation in richness of threatened birds, mammals, reptiles, actinopterygii, and amphibians along an elevational gradient in Nepal Himalaya.ResultsAlthough geometric constraints (MDE), species range size, and human population density were significantly related to threatened species richness, the interaction between range size and human population density was of greater importance. Threatened species richness was positively associated with human population density and negatively associated with range size.ConclusionsIn areas with high richness of threatened species, species ranges tend to be small. The preponderance of species at risk of extinction at low elevations in the subtropical biodiversity hotspot could be due to the double impact of smaller range sizes and higher human density.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12898-018-0162-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Red panda Ailurus fulgens , an endangered habitat specialist, inhabits a narrow distribution range in bamboo abundance forests along mountain slopes in the Himalaya and Hengduan Mountains. However, their habitat use may be different in places with different longitudinal environmental gradients, climatic regimes, and microclimate. This study aimed to determine the habitat variables affecting red panda distribution across different longitudinal gradients through a multivariate analysis. We studied habitat selection patterns along the longitudinal gradient in Nepal's Himalaya which is grouped into the eastern, central, and western complexes. We collected data on red panda presence and habitat variables (e.g., tree richness, canopy cover, bamboo abundance, water availability, tree diameter, tree height) by surveys along transects throughout the species’ potential range. We used a multimodal inference approach with a generalized linear model to test the relative importance of environmental variables. Although the study showed that bamboo abundance had a major influence, habitat selection was different across longitudinal zones. Both canopy cover and species richness were unimportant in eastern Nepal, but their influence increased progressively toward the west. Conversely, tree height showed a decreasing influence on habitat selection from Eastern to Western Nepal. Red panda's habitat selection revealed in this study corresponds to the uneven distribution of vegetation assemblages and the dry climatic gradient along the eastern‐western Himalayas which could be related to a need to conserve energy and thermoregulate. This study has further highlighted the need of importance of bamboo conservation and site‐specific conservation planning to ensure long‐term red panda conservation.