Abstract
BackgroundMajority of the tiger habitat in Indian subcontinent lies within high human density landscapes and is highly sensitive to surrounding pressures. These forests are unable to sustain healthy tiger populations within a tiger-hostile matrix, despite considerable conservation efforts. Ranthambore Tiger Reserve (RTR) in Northwest India is one such isolated forest which is rapidly losing its links with other tiger territories in the Central Indian landscape. Non-invasive genetic sampling for individual identification is a potent technique to understand the relationships between threatened tiger populations in degraded habitats. This study is an attempt to establish tiger movement across a fragmented landscape between RTR and its neighboring forests, Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary (KPWLS) and Madhav National Park (MNP) based on non-invasively obtained genetic data.MethodsData from twelve microsatellite loci was used to define population structure and also to identify first generation migrants and admixed individuals in the above forests.ResultsPopulation structure was consistent with the Central Indian landscape and we could determine significant gene flow between RTR and MNP. We could identify individuals of admixed ancestry in both these forests, as well as first generation migrants from RTR to KPWLS and MNP.ConclusionsOur results indicate reproductive mixing between animals of RTR and MNP in the recent past and migration of animals even today, despite fragmentation and poaching risk, from RTR towards MNP. Substantial conservation efforts should be made to maintain connectivity between these two subpopulations and also higher protection status should be conferred on Madhav National Park.
Highlights
Despite tremendous pressures of an ever-exploding human population, India ranks eighth among the world’s seventeen megabiodiversity countries [1]
Six DNA extracts from Madhav National Park (MNP) yielded six distinct genotypes, three males and three females; while the Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary (KPWLS) sample was from a male tiger
Genotype data of ten individuals from Bandhavgarh tiger reserve (BTR) and fifteen from Pench tiger reserve (PTR), Madhya Pradesh were included in the current investigation (Table 1)
Summary
Despite tremendous pressures of an ever-exploding human population, India ranks eighth among the world’s seventeen megabiodiversity countries [1]. The remaining majority of the protected areas were highly sensitive to surrounding pressures, and were unable to sustain healthy tiger populations within a tiger-hostile matrix, despite considerable conservation efforts. Tigers in such vulnerable protected areas can only persist as part of larger populations that extend into surrounding forests. Majority of the tiger habitat in Indian subcontinent lies within high human density landscapes and is highly sensitive to surrounding pressures. These forests are unable to sustain healthy tiger populations within a tiger-hostile matrix, despite considerable conservation efforts. This study is an attempt to establish tiger movement across a fragmented landscape between RTR and its neighboring forests, Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary (KPWLS) and Madhav National Park (MNP) based on non-invasively obtained genetic data
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