Big cats in our backyards: persistence of large carnivores in a human dominated landscape in India.

ABSTRACT: Protected areas are extremely important for the long term viability of biodiversity in a densely populated country like India where land is a scarce resource. However, protected areas cover only 5% of the land area in India and in the case of large carnivores that range widely, human use landscapes will function as important habitats required for gene flow to occur between protected areas. In this study, we used photographic capture recapture analysis to assess the density of large carnivores in a human-dominated agricultural landscape with density >300 people/km(2) in western Maharashtra, India. We found evidence of a wide suite of wild carnivores inhabiting a cropland landscape devoid of wilderness and wild herbivore prey. Furthermore, the large carnivores; leopard (Panthera pardus) and

SUBMITTER: Athreya V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3590292 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature