Landscape predictors of human-leopard conflicts within multi-use areas of the Himalayan region

Conflict with humans is a significant source of mortality for large carnivores globally. With rapid loss of forest cover and anthropogenic impacts on their habitats, large carnivores are forced to occupy multi-use landscapes outside protected areas. We investigated 857 attacks on livestock in easter...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Scientific reports 2020-07, Vol.10 (1), p.11129-11129, Article 11129
Main Authors:	Naha, Dipanjan, Dash, Suraj Kumar, Chettri, Abhisek, Chaudhary, Pooja, Sonker, Gaurav, Heurich, Marco, Rawat, Gopal Singh, Sathyakumar, Sambandam
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Altitude Animals Animals, Wild Anthropogenic factors Bhutan Carnivores Ecosystem Food Chain Forests Grazing Hot spots Human settlements Humans India Landscape Livestock Nepal Panthera Predation Protected areas Seasons
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	Conflict with humans is a significant source of mortality for large carnivores globally. With rapid loss of forest cover and anthropogenic impacts on their habitats, large carnivores are forced to occupy multi-use landscapes outside protected areas. We investigated 857 attacks on livestock in eastern Himalaya and 375 attacks in western Himalaya by leopards between 2015 and 2018. Multivariate analyses were conducted to identify the landscape features which increased the probability of livestock depredation by leopards. The risk of a leopard killing livestock increased within a heterogeneous landscape matrix comprising of both closed and open habitats (very dense forests, moderate dense forests, open forests, scrubland and non-forests). We used the results to map potential human-leopard conflict hotspots across parts of the Indian Himalayan region. Our spatial risk maps indicate pockets in the eastern, central and western part of eastern Himalaya and the central, northern part of western Himalaya as hotspots of human-leopard conflicts. Most of the attacks occurred when livestock were grazing freely within multi-use areas without supervision of a herder. Our results suggest that awareness about high risk areas, supervised grazing, and removing vegetation cover around human settlements should be initiated to reduce predation by leopards.
ISSN:	2045-2322 2045-2322