The status of Chinkara Gazella bennettii (Mammalia: Cetartiodactyla: Bovidae) at Mayureshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, Supe, Baramati, Pune and a note on its current distribution in the southwestern region of the Deccan Plateau of Maharashtra, India
Main Article Content
Abstract
We conducted monthly road surveys for encounter rates of Chinkara Gazella bennettii in Mayureshwar Wildlife Sanctuary (MWS), Supe Baramati, Pune from June 2011 to May 2012. The sighting records of Chinkara were collected from opportunistic surveys conducted in adjoining areas of the Sanctuary, up to a distance of 200km in the southwestern region of the Deccan plateau, Maharashtra. We observed that the Chinkara was facing threats from habitat depletion, including in MWS which was declared a sanctuary for their protection. Road widening projects such as the four lane Pune-Solapur National Highway runs 13km on its northern side and a district highway from Ahmednagar to Satara running north-south from the boundary of the Sanctuary have been proposed. Other threats like vehicular movement from tar roads crossing the sanctuary, a proposed underground canal, a major irrigation canal to be constructed along the boundary of the sanctuary, and the increasing number of fenced plots for new residential and other development projects are responsible for the reduction in suitable habitats of the Chinakara. It appears that within a few years, the sanctuary will become an isolated patch of protected grassland, affecting the smooth movement of Chinkara within and beyond the sanctuary limits. Therefore, the remaining population of Chinkara from the entire human dominated landscape will struggle for survival.
ÂArticle Details
Authors own the copyright to the articles published in JoTT. This is indicated explicitly in each publication. The authors grant permission to the publisher Wildlife Information Liaison Development (WILD) Society to publish the article in the Journal of Threatened Taxa. The authors recognize WILD as the original publisher, and to sell hard copies of the Journal and article to any buyer. JoTT is registered under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY), which allows authors to retain copyright ownership. Under this license the authors allow anyone to download, cite, use the data, modify, reprint, copy and distribute provided the authors and source of publication are credited through appropriate citations (e.g., Son et al. (2016). Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of the southeastern Truong Son Mountains, Quang Ngai Province, Vietnam. Journal of Threatened Taxa 8(7): 8953–8969. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2785.8.7.8953-8969). Users of the data do not require specific permission from the authors or the publisher.
References
Bagchi, S., S.P. Goyal & K. Shankar (2008). Social organisation and population structure of ungulates in a dry tropical forest in western India (Mammalia, Artiodactyla). Mammalia 72: 44–49.
Blanford, W.T. (1888). The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Part II Mammalia. Taylor and Francis, London, i-xx, +617pp, i-xiii.
Champion, H.G. & S.K. Seth (1968). Southern Thorn Forest. 229-232 Pp. In: A Revised Survey of Forest Types of India, Government of India, New Delhi. i-xxvi Pp. 404.
Chatterjee, P.C. & S.K. Saxena (1988). Canal irrigation in arid zone of Rajasthan and its ecological implications, pp. 223–258. In: Prakash, I. (ed.). Desert Ecology. Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur, India, 313pp.
Dookia, S. (2007). Participation of local villagers in conservation of Indian Gazelle or Chinkara (Gazella bennettii) in Thar Desert of Rajasthan, India. Project Technical Report submitted to the Ruffords Small Grants Foundation, 32pp.
Dookia, S. & G.R. Jakher (2007). Food and feeding habit of Indian Gazelle (Gazella bennettii), in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan. Indian Forester 133(10): 1327–1340.
Dookia, S. & G.R. Jakher (2013). Social organization and population dynamics of Indian Gazelle (Gazella bennettii) in Thar Desert of Rajasthan, India. Tiger Paper 40(1): 5–14.
Ellerman, J.R. & T.C.S. Morrison-Scott (1951). Checklist of Palearctic and Indian Mammals. 1758 to 1946. Fisted. The British Museum (Natural History), London, 810pp.
Hijmans, R.J., L. Guarino & P. Mathur (2012). DIVA-GIS Version 7.5. http://www.diva-gis.org/
Jakher, G.R., S. Dookia & B.R. Dookia (2002). Herd Composition and population dynamics of Indian Gazelle Gazella bennetti (Sykes, 1831) in Gogelao Enclosure (Nagaur), Rajasthan. Zoos’ Print Journal 17(11): 936–938;
http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.ZPJ.17.11.936-8
McGill, R., J.W. Tukey & W.A. Larsen (1978). “Variations of Box Plotsâ€.The American Statistician 32(1): 12–16.
Narwade, S.S., M.C. Gaikwad & K.M. Fartade (2013). Status survey of harriers in south-western region of Deccan Plateau of Maharashtra. Newsletter for Bird Watchers 53(2): 28–30.
Orris, J.B. (2015). MegaStat - an Excel add-in programme. Mega Stat User’s Guide. Butler University, 72pp.
Prater, S.H. (1980). The Book of Indian Animals. Third edition (reprinted with corrections), Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay, 324pp.
Rahmani, A.R. (1990a). Distribution, density, group size and conservation of the Indian Gazelle or Chinkara Gazella bennetti (Sykes, 1831) in Rajasthan, India. Biological Conservation 51: 177–189.
Rahmani, A.R. (1990b). Distribution of the Indian Gazelle or Chinkara, Gazella bennetti (Sykes) in India. Mammalia 54(4): 605–619.
Rodgers, W.A. (1991). Techniques for Wildlife Census in India: A Field Manual. Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 82pp.
Roberts, T.J. (1997). The Mammals of Pakistan. Revised Edition. Oxford University Press, Karachi, 525pp.