Prey abundance and prey selection by tigers (Panthera tigris) in a semi‐arid, dry deciduous forest in western India

Abstract

Food habits of tigers Panthera tigris in terms of prey abundance were studied in the semi-arid deciduous forests of Ranthambhore National Park, western India, between November 2000 and April 2001. Wild prey availability was assessed by line transects (n = 8) and prey selection by the tigers was determined from analysis of scats (n = 109). Compared to some other parts of the country, prey abundance was found to be high at 96.65 animals km − 2 . Chital Axis axis was the most abundant wild prey in the study area, followed by common langur Presbytis entellus, sambar Cervus unicolor, nilgai Boselaphus tragocamelus, wild pig Sus scrofa and chinkara Gazella bennetti. Chital (c. 31%) and sambar (c. 47%) constituted the bulk of the tigers' diet and were preferred prey. Nilgai and chinkara contributed minimally to the tigers' diet (c. 5-7% and < 1%, respectively) and were used less than their availability. Domestic livestock made up 10-12% of the tigers' diet. The average weight of an animal consumed was between 107 and 114 kg reflecting a preference for large prey. The analysis reveals that parts of Ranthambhore have high prey abundance, thus making it important for long-term tiger conservation. Despite the high prey abundance, tigers were still considerably dependent on domestic livestock, posing challenges for the park management to resolve potential areas of conflict.

Prey selection, food habits and dietary overlap between leopardPanthera pardus(Mammalia: Carnivora) and re-introduced tigerPanthera tigris(Mammalia: Carnivora) in a semi-arid forest of Sariska Tiger Reserve, Western India

“…Ranathambore Tiger Reserve and Sariska Tiger Reserve both lies in Aravalli hills with similar habitat condition, environmental condition and prey base. The re-introduced tigers in Sariska TR consumed largely sambar (41.7%), chital (26.2%) and nilgai (10.7%), which are very similar to the previous study in Ranathambore Tiger Reserve (original habitat of re-introduced tigers), where tigers found to consume largely chital (45.7%), sambar (36.9%) and nilgai (3.3%) (Bagchi et al 2003). Because of the presence of around 10,000 livestock population in the study area, the contribution of livestock in tiger diet is higher in Sariska TR (19.4%) than Ranthambore Tiger Reserve (5.5%), as there is no village situated inside Ranathambore Tiger Reserve.…”

“…This method has been widely applied to estimate densities of prey species in different forest in Indian subcontinent (Karanth & Sunquist 1995;Khan et al 1996;Biswas & Sankar 2002;Sankar & Johnsingh 2002;Bagchi et al 2003). The study area was divided into 40 grids of 4 km 2 covering 160 km 2 areas.…”

“…Studies based on kills being biased towards large prey, the remains of which are more easily detected than those of small prey (Edgaonkar & Chellam 2002). Diet and food preference of leopard and tiger can be estimated from the scat analysis and as well as from the kills (Mukherjee et al 1994;Biswas & Sankar 2002;Sankar & Johnsingh 2002;Bagchi et al 2003;Mondal et al 2011). Fresh leopard and tiger scats were collected in all seasons whenever encountered during the study period.…”

“…All the scats were washed, oven dried and subsequently preserved for future analysis. Micro-histological structures of hairs were used to identify the prey species (Johnsingh 1983;Mukherjee et al 1994;Biswas & Sankar 2002;Sankar & Johnsingh 2002;Bagchi et al 2003;Mondal et al 2011). The biomass and number of individuals of the prey consumed by both the carnivores were estimated using Ackerman's equation (Ackerman et al 1984) to get a more accurate estimate of prey consumption.…”

Toxoplasmosis in Nilgais (Boselaphus Tragocamelus) and a Saiga Antelope (Saiga Tatarica)

“…In India, the endangered Indian tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) preys on B. tragocamelus, although it constitutes only 5-7% of prey items in Ranthambhore National Park (Bagchi et al 2003c), 2.7% in Sariska Tiger Reserve (Sankar and Johnsingh 2002), and 3.6% in Nagarjunasagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve (Reedy et al 2004). In Pench National Park, India, tigers do not prey on B. tragocamelus (Biswas and Sankar 2002).…”