Status of Golden Jackal Canis aureus and ungulates in a small enclosed area- Van Vihar National Park, Madhya Pradesh, India

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Published: Jun 26, 2015
DOI: https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o4214.7416-21
Keywords:
Biomass, Canis aureus, density, Golden Jackals, line transect, population, ungulates.

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S. Prerna
Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248001, India
Advait Edgaonkar
Indian Institute of Forest Management, Nehru Nagar, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 462003, India
Yogesh Dubey
Indian Institute of Forest Management, Nehru Nagar, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 462003, India

Abstract

We estimated densities of Golden Jackals and five ungulate species in Van Vihar National Park, Madhya Pradesh, India.  It is an enclosed area of about 4.45km², out of which 3.5km² is available for free ranging animals.  Twenty-six transects with a combined length of 22.6km and an effort of 50.2km were walked.  A total of 1079 animal detections belonging to six different species were made.  The density of jackals was (17±3.8SE)/km2. Among the ungulates, chital had the highest density (118±18.8SE)/km2 followed by Sambar (34.1±6.9 SE)/km2, Nilgai (13.1±2.8SE)/km2, Blackbuck (6.6±1.5 SE)/km2 and Wild Pig (3.7±0.8 SE)/km2.  The ungulate biomass was found to be (12979.2±2463.26 SE)kg/km2.  Chital biomass was the highest at (5574.2±886.58 SE)kg/km2, followed by Sambar biomass of (4569.4±913.75 SE)kg/km2, Nilgai (2358±523.24 SE)kg/km2, Blackbuck (211.2±66.18 SE)kg/km2 and Wild Pig (118.4±28.37 SE)kg/km2.  The sex ratio was calculated and most ungulates had female-biased adult sex ratio.

 

Article Details

Issue
Vol. 7 No. 8 (2015)
Section
Communications

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Author Biographies

S. Prerna, Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248001, India

S. Prerna is a researcher at Wildlife Institute of India.  Prerna has worked in All India tiger monitoring project 2013-15 and  has worked for 5 years on captive bear rehabilitation. This work was for her MPhil thesis at IIFM, Bhopal. Apart from carnivore ecology, Prerna is interested in animal behavior and conservation.

 

Advait Edgaonkar, Indian Institute of Forest Management, Nehru Nagar, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 462003, India

Advait Edgaonkar is an Assistant Professor at Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal. He has a PhD in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation. He is interested in carnivore ecology and is presently estimating the population of domestic dogs in Bhopal city. 

 

Yogesh Dubey, Indian Institute of Forest Management, Nehru Nagar, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 462003, India

Yogesh Dubey is an Associate Professor at IIFM,Bhopal. He has a PhD in wildlife science. He is interested in biodiversity impact assessment studies and Protected area management.

 

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