Panda Debashish, Mohanty Subham, Suryan Tanuj, Pandey Puneet, Lee Hang, Singh Randeep
Amity Institute of Forestry and Wildlife, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Department of Zoology, North Campus, Delhi University, New Delhi, India.
PLoS One. 2022 May 4;17(5):e0266832. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0266832. eCollection 2022.
Understanding the mechanism of coexistence, where carnivores adapt to humans and vice versa in the shared landscape, is a key determinant of long-term carnivore conservation but is yet to be comprehensively examined. We explored the coexistence mechanism of striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) and humans in the shared landscape of Sawai Mansingh Wildlife Sanctuary (SMS WLS), Rajasthan, from November 2019 to March 2021. We used data derived from motion sensors-based surveys, satellite remote sensing images, and household questionnaires to understand socio-ecological, environmental and anthropogenic factors facilitating hyena persistence in the shared landscape. The high density (12 individuals/100 km2) striped hyena in the landscape revealed the coexistence with humans. Being scavengers, they get subsidised food sources and are perceived as low-risk species by humans. Striped hyena minimised temporal activity during the daytime when human activity peaked. However, the highest activity overlap was observed in the agricultural area (Δ1 = 0.39), and likely depicts the high activity due to agricultural practices. While the human settlement was positively associated with the detection of hyenas, the probability of striped hyena captures increased with decreasing distance from human settlement, possibly influenced by high carcass availability, providing the easiest food resources to striped hyena, and allowing them to coexist with humans. This study demonstrates the coexistence of hyenas and humans in the shared landscape supported by mutual benefits, where hyenas benefit from anthropogenic food from scavenging, while humans benefit from waste removal and the non-lethal nature hyenas.
了解食肉动物与人类在共享景观中相互适应的共存机制，是长期保护食肉动物的关键决定因素，但尚未得到全面研究。我们于2019年11月至2021年3月，在拉贾斯坦邦的萨瓦伊·曼辛格野生动物保护区（SMS WLS）的共享景观中，探索了条纹鬣狗（Hyaena hyaena）与人类的共存机制。我们使用了基于运动传感器的调查数据、卫星遥感图像和家庭调查问卷，以了解促进鬣狗在共享景观中持续存在的社会生态、环境和人为因素。该景观中条纹鬣狗的高密度（12只/100平方公里）表明它们与人类共存。作为食腐动物，它们获得了补贴性食物来源，并且被人类视为低风险物种。条纹鬣狗在人类活动高峰期的白天将活动时间减至最少。然而，在农业区域观察到最高的活动重叠（Δ1 = 0.39），这可能描绘了由于农业活动而导致的高活动水平。虽然人类住区与鬣狗的发现呈正相关，但条纹鬣狗被捕获的概率随着与人类住区距离的减小而增加，这可能受到高尸体可得性的影响，为条纹鬣狗提供了最容易获取的食物资源，并使它们能够与人类共存。这项研究表明，在互利的支持下，鬣狗和人类在共享景观中共存，鬣狗从食腐的人为食物中受益，而人类则从废物清除和鬣狗的非致命性质中受益。
