Food habit of Tiger (Panthera tigris) in Tropical Moist Deciduous Forest of Dudhwa National Park, Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

Tiger ( Panthera tigris ) is an endangered felid on the IUCN list. Habitat loss, landscape fragmentation, prey depletion, and poaching have contributed to the decline of the tiger in its entire range in Asia. In India also, it survives only in well-protected tiger reserves and gone or decreased drastically in less-protected areas. The same situation is seen in the terai arc landscape. Thus, accurate knowledge of a species' diet is essential for effective conservation and is vital for conservation initiatives like habitat prioritization, protection, and restoration. Scats analysis was used to determine the food habit of tigers in the tropical moist-evergreen forest of Dudhwa National Park, northern India. A total of 116 scats were collected and analyzed. Scat contents were analyzed in terms of the relative frequency of occurrence and the relative prey biomass consumed. A minimum of 14 prey species were identified. In terms of frequency of occurrence and biomass, the most important prey species were barasingha ( Rucervus duvaucelii) and spotted deer ( Axis axis ), making up to 55% of biomass consumed. Domestic livestock contributed almost 10% to the diet of the tiger. The study revealed that tiger and leopard ( Panthera pardus ), the two main predators in Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, differentiate their niches by segregating the available resources as 55% of the tiger diet comprises barasingha and spotted deer. On the other side, leopard mainly feeds on spotted deer and rodents and may avoid direct competition from the tiger by shifting the space and diet, as revealed by another study in the same area.