Abstract
The Endangered Tiger Panthera tigris is the largest felid, distributed over 1.1 million km2 globally. Conservation of Tigers largely depends on the preservation of its natural prey base and habitats. Therefore, the availability of prey and its selection play a major role in the sustainable future of Tigers in the given landscape. The current study assesses the prey selection patterns by Tigers in tropical evergreen forest of the Kalakkad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR), southern Western Ghats, India. Density of ungulates was assessed by distance sampling (line transect, N = 21) and diet composition of Tigers was evaluated by analysing their faecal samples (N = 66). The study estimated very low ungulate density (26.87 ± 7.41 individuals km-2) with highest density of Gaur Bos gaurus (9.04 individuals km-2) followed by Wild Boar Sus scrofa (8.79 ± 2.73 individuals km-2), whereas, primate density was quite high (45.89 ± 12.48 individuals km-2), with Nilgiri Langur Semnopithecus johnii having the highest density (38.05 ± 10.22 individuals km-2). About 74.62% of the biomass of Gaur constituted in the Tiger’s diet, consumed lesser than its availability, whereas Sambar constituted 16.73% of the Tiger diet consumed proportionally to its availability. Chital Axis axis, Muntjac Muntiacus muntjak, and Indian Chevrotain Moschiola indica were not represented in the Tiger’s diet. The current study is the first scientific information on prey selection of the Tiger in KMTR landscape, which will serve as a baseline for its conservation planning and management.
Highlights
The Tiger Panthera tigris, is the largest among five big cats in the genus (Sunquist 2010), distributed across the heterogeneous habitats of Asia (Hayward et al 2012)
Density and prey biomass Comparative account of total ungulate densities estimated in the present study (Table 3) with that of other tropical forests in southern Asia revealed that KalakkadMundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) harboured lower density of ungulates than most of them but higher than the Tiger reserves such as Bori-Satpura, Pakke, and Bhadra
Midelevation forest is dry in most of the place coupled with contiguous tracts (c. 440km2) of tropical rainforest in KMTR which is unfavourable for ungulates (Johnsingh 2001)
Summary
The Tiger Panthera tigris, is the largest among five big cats in the genus (Sunquist 2010), distributed across the heterogeneous habitats of Asia (Hayward et al 2012). Most of the information on prey selection of Tiger comes from studies carried out in semiarid dry thorn and dry deciduous forests of central India (Bagchi et al 2003; Biswas & Sankar 2002; Sankar et al 2010) and tropical moist deciduous forests of southern India (Karanth & Suquist 1995; Ramesh et al 2012a; Kumaraguru et al 2011) In those areas, Chital was the dominant prey species in the Tiger’s diet (Johnsingh 1992; Karanth & Sunquist 1995; Venkataraman et al 1995; Andheria et al 2007), no comprehensive study has been conducted to estimate the abundance of prey and its selection by Tigers in their distribution range in the southern Western Ghats.
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