<b>Distribution and habitat use of the endangered Dhole <I>Cuon alpinus</I> (Pallas, 1811) (Mammalia: Canidae) in Jigme Dorji National Park, western Bhutan</b>

Abstract

C omm u n fi c a t fi o n D fi s t r fi b u t fi o n a n d h a b fi t a t u s e o f t h e e n d a n g e r e d D h o l e C u o n a l p fi n u s ( P a l l a s , 1 8 1 1 ) (M amm a l fi a : C a n fi d a e ) fi n J fi gm e D o r j fi N a t fi o n a l P a r k , w e s t e r n B h u t a n C h h fim fi N am g y a l & P h u n t s h o T h fi n l e y 2 6 S e p t em b e r 2 0 1 7 | V o l . 9 | N o . 9 | P p . 1 0 6 4 9 -1 0 6 5 5 1 0 . 1 1 6 0 9 / j o t . 3 0 9 1 . 9 . 9 . 1 0 6 4 9 -1 0 6 5 5 T h r e a t e n e d T a x a T h e J o u r n a l o f T h r e a t e n e d T a x a fi s d e d fi c a t e d t o b u fi l d fi n g e v fi d e n c e f o r c o n s e r v a fi o n g l o b a l l y b y p u b l fi s h fi n g p e e r -r e v fi ew e d a r fi c l e s o n l fi n e e v e r y m o n t h a t a r e a s o n a b l y r a p fi d r a t e a t www . t h r e a t e n e d t a x a . o r g. A l l a r fi c l e s p u b l fi s h e d fi n J o T T a r e r e g fi s t e r e d u n d e r C r e a fi v e C omm o n s A t r fi b u fi o n 4 . 0 I n t e r n a fi o n a l L fi c e n s e u n l e s s o t h e rw fi s e m e n fi o n e d . J o T T a l l ow s u n r e s t r fi c t e d u s e o f a r fi c l e s fi n a n y m e d fi um , r e p r o d u c fi o n , a n d d fi s t r fi b u fi o n b y p r o v fi d fi n g a d e q u a t e c r e d fi t t o t h e a u t h o r s a n d t h e s o u r c e o f p u b l fi c a fi o n .O P E N A C C E S S P a r t n e r www . t h r e a t e n e d t a x a . o r g I S S N 0 9 7 4 -7 9 0 7 ( O n l fi n e ) | I S S N 0 9 7 4 -7 8 9 3 ( P r fi n t ) B u fi l d fi n g e v fi d e n c e f o r c o n s e r v a fi o n g l o b a l l y J o u r n a l o f T h r e a t e n e d T a x a P u b l fi s h e r / H o s t F o r F o c u s , S c o p e , A fim s , P o l fi c fi e s a n d G u fi d e l fi n e s v fi s fi t h t p : / / t h r e a t e n e d t a x a . o r g / A b o u t _ J o T T F o r A r fi c l e S u bm fi s s fi o n G u fi d e l fi n e s v fi s fi t h t p : / / t h r e a t e n e d t a x a . o r g / S u bm fi s s fi o n _ G u fi d e l fi n e s F o r P o l fi c fi e s a g a fi n s t S c fi e n fi fi c M fi s c o n d u c t v fi s fi t h t p : / / t h r e a t e n e d t a x a . o r g / J o T T _ P o l fi c y _ a g a fi n s t _ S c fi e n fi fi c _M fi s c o n d u c t F o r r e p r fi n t s c o n t a c t < fi n f o@ t h r e a t e n e d t a x a . o r g > Author Contribution: Both the authors have equally contributed in field data collection, data analysis, and drafting of the manuscript. Acknowledgements:We are truly grateful and indebted to the Rufford Foundation for the generous funding support. We thank the Department of Forests and Park Services for kindly permitting us to undertake the study. We also express gratitude to Mr. Lhendup Tharchen, the former Park Manager, and his dedicated field staff of Jigme Dorji National Park for their kind assistance during our field visits and for sharing camera trap images. Last, but certainly not the least, we owe our appreciation to Dr. Om Katel of the College of Natural Resources, Bhutan, for his valuable comments and input o...

Assessing the adequacy of a protected area network in conserving a wide‐ranging apex predator: The case for tiger (Panthera tigris) conservation in Bhutan

“…We then used the tiger occurrence points in MaxEnt by correlating them with input variables (Table 2) to produce a probability surface of tiger occurrence (Elith et al, 2010). In line with Namgyal and Thinley (2017), we used the default settings in the MaxEnt model comprising 500 interactions, a 0.00001 convergence threshold, 1 regularization multiplier, and 10,000 background points with 50% random test percentage. This was exported to ArcMap and reclassified into a suitability surface.…”

“…Because of its status as a national priority species (Wang & Macdonald, 2009), landscape-level tiger studies in Bhutan have mainly focused on population (Tempa, Hebblewhite, Goldberg, et al, 2019;Thinley, Dorji, Tempa, et al, 2015) and movement dynamics (Thinley et al, 2020), as conducted elsewhere in South India (Gubbi et al, 2016), China (Wang et al, 2018), and the Terai Arc Landscape straddling Nepal and India (Thapa, Wikramanayake, Malla, et al, 2017). In an effort to maintain viable tiger populations, some studies have additionally prioritized assessment of landscape connectivity through various approaches such as mapping potential forest loss in Sumatra (Poor, Shao, & Kelly, 2019), investigating metapopulation gene flow in central India (Seidensticker, 2016), and spatially identifying corridors in western India (Mondal, Habib, Talukdar, & Nigam, 2016). More recently, Sanderson, Moy, Rose, et al (2019) even investigated shared socioeconomic pathways to gauge the influence of human population growth on tiger conservation.…”

Conserving an Endangered Canid: Assessing Distribution, Habitat Protection, and Connectivity for the Dhole (Cuon alpinus) in Bhutan

“…Several modeling studies on dhole distribution and occupancy have been carried out at varying scales. At local scales, parkwide potential dhole distribution modeling was carried out by Namgyal and Thinley (2017) in Bhutan's Jigme Dorji National Park and by Rahman et al (2018) in Indonesia's Ujung Kulon National Park, whereas Singh et al (2020) recently reported on dhole occupancy in India's Dampa Tiger Reserve. At the broader landscape scale, Srivathsa et al (2014), Punjabi et al (2017), andSrivathsa et al (2019a) modeled dhole occupancy across the Western Ghats of Karnataka, India.…”

“…There is no current population estimate for dholes in Bhutan. They were, however, almost extirpated from the country in the 1970s and 80s by mass poisoning campaigns due to blames over persistent livestock depredation (Wang and Macdonald, 2006;Thinley et al, 2011;Namgyal and Thinley, 2017). Because dholes are known to control populations of wild pig (Sus scrofa), the principal crop-raiding species in Bhutan (Wangchuk, 2004;Thinley et al, 2018), it is believed that wild pig populations in Bhutan substantially increased and intensified crop damage after the mass extermination of dholes (Wangchuk, 2004).…”

“…Because dholes are known to control populations of wild pig (Sus scrofa), the principal crop-raiding species in Bhutan (Wangchuk, 2004;Thinley et al, 2018), it is believed that wild pig populations in Bhutan substantially increased and intensified crop damage after the mass extermination of dholes (Wangchuk, 2004). Despite the dhole population recovering and re-establishing itself in Bhutan from the late 1990s with some probable recolonization from the neighboring Indian states of Assam and West Bengal (Wangchuk, 2004), little is known on its current distribution in Bhutan (Namgyal and Thinley, 2017). The dhole is still not listed as a protected species in Schedule I of Bhutan's Forests and Nature Conservation Act despite being globally endangered (Namgyal and Thinley, 2017).…”