Identifying connectivity for two sympatric carnivores in human-dominated landscapes in central Iran

Abstract

Central Iran supports a diversity of carnivores, most of which are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation. Carnivore conservation requires the identification and preservation of core habitats and ensuring connectivity between them. In the present study, we used species distribution modeling to predict habitat suitability and connectivity modeling to predict linkage (resistant kernel and factorial least-cost path analyses) for grey wolf and golden jackal in central Iran. For grey wolf, elevation, topographic ruggedness, and distance to Conservation Areas (CAs) were the strongest predictors; for golden jackal, distance to human settlements, dump sites and topographic ruggedness were the most influential variables in predicting the occurrence of this species. Our results also indicated a high potential for large parts of the landscape to support the occurrence of these two canid species. The largest and the most crucial core habitats and corridor paths for the conservation of both species are located in the southern part of the study landscape. We found a small overlap between golden jackal corridor paths and core habitats with CAs, which has important implications for conservation and future viability of the golden jackal populations. Some sections of core areas are bisected by roads, where most vehicle collisions with grey wolf and golden jackal occurred. To minimize mortality risk, we propose that successful conservation of both species will necessitate integrated landscape-level management, as well as conservation of core areas and corridors and development of mitigation strategies to reduce vehicle collisions.

Do we need to unfriend a few friends? Free‐ranging dogs affect wildlife and pastoralists in the Indian Trans‐Himalaya

“…Our results showed a high density of free‐ranging dogs in and around human settlements (defence camps, residential schools and construction company camps), which function as easily accessible food reservoirs. Usually, generalist predators like domestic cats and dogs are likely to be abundant near humans (Odell & Knight, 2001), while according to the “safe habitat hypothesis” most of wild predators tend to avoid human habitations (Srivastava, Krishnamurthy, & Sathyakumar, 2020; Rezaei et al ., 2022). Free‐ranging dogs have been reported to sustain themselves on carrion of livestock by excluding wild competitors in fringe habitats (Butler & du Toit, 2002).…”