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Large mammal use of protected and community‐managed lands in a biodiversity hotspot
Author(s) -
Velho N.,
Srinivasan U.,
Singh P.,
Laurance W. F.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
animal conservation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.111
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1469-1795
pISSN - 1367-9430
DOI - 10.1111/acv.12234
Subject(s) - wildlife , panthera , geography , biodiversity , biodiversity hotspot , wildlife conservation , wildlife management , tiger , mammal , leopard , ecology , protected area , agroforestry , predation , biology , archaeology , computer security , computer science
In large parts of the biodiversity‐rich tropics, various forest governance regimes often coexist, ranging from governmental administration to highly decentralized community management. Two common forms of such governance are protected areas, and community lands open to limited resource extraction. We studied wildlife occurrences in the north‐east I ndian state of A runachal P radesh, where the E aglenest W ildlife S anctuary ( EWS ) is situated adjacent to community lands governed by the B ugun and S herdukpen tribes. We conducted transect‐based mammal sign surveys and camera trapping for mammals (>0.5 kg), and interviewed members of the resident tribes to understand their hunting practices and causes of wildlife declines. Interviews indicated hunting‐mediated declines in the abundances of mammals such as the tiger P anthera tigris , gaur B os gaurus and river otters L utrogale and A onyx species. Larger species such as B . gaurus were much more abundant within EWS than outside of it. Community‐managed lands harbored smaller bodied species, including some of conservation importance such as the red panda A ilurus fulgens , clouded leopard N eofelis nebulosa and golden cat P ardofelis temminckii . Our findings show that protected areas may have important non‐substitutive values but adjoining community‐managed lands may also have important conservation values for a different set of species.