Abstract
BackgroundFeeding strategies assessment of endangered species during food limited seasons is important in order to understand their niche and advise effective habitat management steps. We assessed the four-horned antelope (Tetracerus quadricornis) seasonal diet from April 2014 to March 2015, in three wildlife sanctuaries in western India, namely, Sitamata, Kumbhalgarh, and Phulwari-ki-nal Wildlife Sanctuaries. Opportunistic focal animal sampling method was used in five 1 km paths in each sanctuary to take feeding observations. Each transect was walked three times a day (morning 06:00-10:00 h; mid-day 10:00-14:00 h; evening 15:00-18:00 h), 1 day a month, during 12 months, with a total of 540 surveys divided between 15 paths. The diet data was categorized into different plant categories.ResultsA total of 532 feeding records from 85 animal sightings were noted with a mean (± SD) of 14.78 ± 10.04 feeding records/month. Feeding was observed on 63 plant species belonging to 23 families. The highest feeding records noted were on trees (60.91%) in the diet followed by shrubs (20.49%), grasses (16.92%), forbs (1.50%), and climbers (0.18%) respectively. Most of the plant species consumed were from Fabaceae (n = 17) and Poaceae (n = 12) families. The overall browse-grass ratio was 83.08-16.92% (88.02-11.98% for Sitamata WLS; 82.11-17.89% for Kumbhalgarh WLS; 79.10-20.90% for Phulwari-ki-nal WLS). Leaves were the most consumed part of the plants (64.10%), followed by dry fruit (16.55%), fleshy fruit (13.34%), flowers (2.82%), buds (2.06%), and twigs (1.13%) respectively. Use of fleshy fruits, dry fruits, and trees showed significant seasonal dietary difference (P < 0.05) in all three sanctuaries.ConclusionsTetracerus quadricornis was found to consume more browse species than grasses. We recommend conservation and promotion of natural plant regeneration, in particular for the plant species that were the most consumed by four-horned antelope, namely, Aristida adscensionis, Dendrocalamus strictus, Dichrostachys cinerea, Acacia leucophloea, Butea monosperma, Helicteres isora, Ziziphus nummularia, and Ziziphus xylopyrus. Conservation of grassland patches, minimizing local pressure, and planning, construction, and maintenance of fire lines prior to timing of forest fires would help to protected T. quadricornis habitat in all three sanctuaries.
Highlights
Feeding strategies assessment of endangered species during food limited seasons is important in order to understand their niche and advise effective habitat management steps
Study area The study was conducted in three wildlife sanctuaries, namely, Sitamata, Kumbhalgarh, and Phulwari-ki-nal Wildlife Sanctuaries (WLS) situated in the Aravalli mountain ranges of Rajasthan, India (Fig. 1)
T. quadricornis feeding was observed on 63 plant species (56 in summer, 30 in monsoon, and 41 in winter seasons) belonged to 23 families (Table 5 in Appendix)
Summary
Feeding strategies assessment of endangered species during food limited seasons is important in order to understand their niche and advise effective habitat management steps. The four-horned antelope (Tetracerus quadricornis de Blainville, 1816) or chowsingha is a solitary Asian herbivore bovid (17-22 kg adult weight, 55-64 cm height at the shoulder) endemic to peninsular India and Nepal (Leslie & Sharma, 2009), living in hilly and undulating terrain (Baskaran, Kannan, Thiyagesan, & Desai, 2011; Prater, 1980). It lives in isolated patches across tropical dry deciduous forest habitats (Krishna, Clyne, Krishnaswamy, & Kumar, 2009; Pokharel, Ludwig, & Storch, 2016; Sharma, Chundawat, Gruisen, & Rahmani, 2013). It is included in Schedule I of Indian Wildlife Protection Act, which provides absolute protection of the species
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