Kolipaka S S, Tamis W L M, van 't Zelfde M, Persoon G A, de Iongh H H
Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (FSW), Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
PLoS One. 2017 Apr 5;12(4):e0174844. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0174844. eCollection 2017.
Grazing livestock in openly accessible areas is a common practice in the multiple-use forests of India; however, its compatibility with the reintroduction of tigers to these areas requires examination. Here, we investigated the diet of tigers in a livestock-dominated multiple-use buffer zone of the Panna Tiger Reserve, India. We hypothesised that the presence of feral cattle, along with open-access grazing practices in multiple-use forests, would increase the incidence of predation on livestock by tigers, even when wild prey are available. We used generalised linear models to test whether predation of livestock versus wild animals was influenced by (1) the sex and age class of tigers, (2) season, and (3) the distance of prey from the core-zone boundary of the reserve. Overall, sub-adult tigers and male tigers killed more livestock than wild prey, even when wild prey was available. In the winter and rainy seasons livestock were killed in higher numbers in the buffer zone than in summers, this may be because of the seasonally changing livestock herding patterns in the area. Further, with increasing distance from the core-zone boundary, all tigers killed more livestock, possibly because livestock were more easily accessible than wild prey. Our results show that open-access and unregulated livestock grazing is not currently compatible with large carnivore conservation in the same landscape. Such practices will lead to an increase in negative tiger-human-livestock interactions. In conclusion, we suggest the need to encourage locals to corral valuable cattle, leaving feral/unwanted livestock for tigers. This simple strategy would benefit both local inhabitants and tiger conservation in the multiple-use forests of India.
在印度的多用途森林中，在开放区域放牧牲畜是一种常见做法；然而，这种做法与在这些区域重新引入老虎是否兼容需要进行研究。在此，我们调查了印度潘纳老虎保护区一个以牲畜为主的多用途缓冲区中老虎的饮食情况。我们假设，即使有野生猎物，野生牛的存在以及多用途森林中的开放放牧做法会增加老虎捕食牲畜的发生率。我们使用广义线性模型来测试牲畜与野生动物的捕食情况是否受到以下因素的影响：(1)老虎的性别和年龄类别，(2)季节，以及(3)猎物与保护区核心区边界的距离。总体而言，即使有野生猎物，亚成年老虎和雄性老虎捕杀的牲畜也比野生动物多。在冬季和雨季，缓冲区捕杀的牲畜数量高于夏季，这可能是因为该地区牲畜放牧模式随季节变化。此外，随着与核心区边界距离的增加，所有老虎捕杀的牲畜都更多，这可能是因为牲畜比野生猎物更容易获取。我们的结果表明，目前开放和无管制的牲畜放牧与同一景观中的大型食肉动物保护不兼容。这种做法将导致老虎与人类和牲畜之间的负面互动增加。总之，我们建议鼓励当地人圈养有价值的牛，将野生/ unwanted牲畜留给老虎。这一简单策略将使印度多用途森林中的当地居民和老虎保护都受益。
