Subedi Bishal, Regmi Sandeep, Bhattarai Bishnu Prasad, Katuwal Hem Bahadur, Ram Ashok Kumar, Belant Jerrold L, Sharma Hari Prasad
Central Department of Zoology, Institute of Science and Technology, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, Yunnan, China.
PLoS One. 2024 Dec 31;19(12):e0315307. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0315307. eCollection 2024.
Understanding species distributions and factors influencing them are important for conservation, particularly for species occurring in human-dominated areas. The Indian crested porcupine (Hystrix indica; hereafter porcupine) is distributed southeast and central Asia, however, the porcupine occurrence and habitat use is poorly understood in the area. We deployed cameras at 154 sites for 21 days (3234 trap nights) during December 2022-March 2023 in the human-dominated landscape of Parsa-Koshi Complex (PKC), Madesh Province, Nepal. We used single season single species occupancy model to estimate the relationship of selected covariates with porcupine occupancy. We identified moderate occupancy [0.321 ± 0.079 (SD)] and detection probability [0.315 ± 0.076 (SD)] of porcupines. Although porcupine occurrence was greater in protected area than in outside protected areas, occupancy was positively associated with area of farmland (1.531 ± 1.703) and human presence (0.459 ± 0.531), while it declined with increasing forest canopy cover (-0.86 ± 0.363). The positive effects of agricultural areas and human presence demonstrate the adaptability of porcupines to humans and the potential for continued conflicts. Based on these baseline data, policy makers and wildlife managers can gain insight into the pattern of porcupine occurrence and aid targeted conservation strategies to mitigate increasing human-porcupine conflicts in PKC.
了解物种分布及其影响因素对于保护工作至关重要，特别是对于那些生活在人类主导区域的物种。印度冠豪猪（Hystrix indica；以下简称豪猪）分布于东南亚和中亚地区，然而，该地区豪猪的出现情况和栖息地利用情况却鲜为人知。2022年12月至2023年3月期间，我们在尼泊尔马德西省帕尔萨-科希复合体（PKC）的人类主导景观中，于154个地点部署了相机，为期21天（共3234个诱捕夜）。我们使用单季单物种占有率模型来估计所选协变量与豪猪占有率之间的关系。我们确定豪猪的占有率为中等水平[0.321±0.079（标准差）]，检测概率为[0.315±0.076（标准差）]。尽管豪猪在保护区的出现率高于保护区外，但占有率与农田面积（1.531±1.703）和人类存在（0.459±0.531）呈正相关，而随着森林冠层覆盖率的增加而下降（-0.86±0.363）。农业区域和人类存在的积极影响表明豪猪对人类的适应性以及持续冲突的可能性。基于这些基线数据，政策制定者和野生动物管理者可以深入了解豪猪的出现模式，并有助于制定有针对性的保护策略，以缓解PKC地区日益增加的人类与豪猪之间的冲突。
