Seasonal variation in the diet of the grey goral (Naemorhedus goral) in Machiara National Park (MNP), Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan

Abstract

Abstract Understanding food habits of wild ungulates is of paramount importance to ecology and wildlife management. We studied the food habits of grey gorals (Naemorhedus goral) using microhistological techniques at two sites (Machiara and Serli Sacha) that differed in livestock grazing pressure in the Machiara National Park (MNP), Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan during 2012–2013. Serli Sacha had 53 livestock units/km2 while Machiara had 27 livestock units/km2 in the habitat of grey gorals. Dietary diversity was higher in Machiara (21 plant species) than at Serli Sacha (15 plant species) but the frequency of plant species consumed by grey goral varied seasonally (p<0.05). Grey gorals consumed mostly forbs (75.57%) during summer (dominated by Poa annua, Geranium wallichianum and Rheum australe) and mostly browse (38.19%) during winter (dominated by Berberis vulgaris, Skimmia laureola and Viburnum nervosum). Grey gorals strongly preferred G. wallichianum in both sites during summer season. Wildlife managers at MNP should focus on increasing diversity of plant species and on reducing livestock grazing as it generally reduces plant diversity and also directly compete with N. goral for limited forage.