Coupling Field Sampling with Earth Observation Increases Understanding of Tiger Movement and Behaviour

Abstract

Tigers (Panthera tigris) are critically endangered worldwide, with the geographical range of native populations reduced to less than 7% in the last hundred years. Currently, there are only 6 subspecies residing in thirteen range countries. The main causes of their decline are habitat loss and fragmentation, prey depletion and poaching for the illegal wildlife trade. Addressing these issues has been severely constrained by inadequate spatial information on tiger distributions, movements, habitat preferences and behaviour. Focusing on the Indo-Bhutan Manas Tiger Conservation Landscape (IBMTCL) in the Indian subcontinent (India and Bhutan), this study sought to demonstrate the use of field-based camera traps for providing ground-based observations of tigers and other large cats, namely leopards (Panthera pardus) and clouded leopards (Neofelis nebulosa), and their prey. These observations were also coupled with classifications of land cover, elevation data and fire observations from Landsat TM and the Terra ASTER and MODIS respectively. The study indicated a large but variable range for individual tigers, a preference of tigers for forest cover and proximity to burned areas (attributed to greater access to prey), and a spatial separation from populations of other large cats. The study illustrates how earth observation data can provide some of the elements needed to better understand how large cats utilise the landscapes they inhabit thereby contributing to efforts aimed at long-term conservation of these endanged species across their range.