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Murali Krishna [Type the abstract of the document here. The abstract is typically a short summary of the contents of the document. Type the abstract of the document here. The abstract is typically a short summary of the contents of the document.]

INVESTIGATING THE FORAGING PATTERNS AND DISTRIBUTION OF NOCTURNAL FRUGIVORES WITH SPECIAL FOCUS ON

CONSERVATION THREATS IN NAMDAPHA NATIONAL PARK, ARUNACHAL PRADESH, INDIA

Submitted to

Submitted by Murali Krishna, Awadhesh Kumar,

Parimal Chandra Ray &

Kuladip Sarma

0

Suggested citation: Krishna, C. M., Kumar, A., Ray, P.C., Sarma, K. & Deka, J. (2015). Investigating the Foraging Patterns and Distribution of Nocturnal Frugivores with Special Focus on Conservation Threats In Namdapha National Park, Arunachal Pradesh, India. Final report to the Rufford Small Grants Program (UK). Krishna, C. M. (editor). Pp. 36

Wildlife Resource & Conservation Lab,

Department of Forestry,

North Eastern Regional Institute of Science & Technology

(Deemed University) (NERIST), Nirjuli, Itanagar,

Aruanchal Pradesh – 791109.

India.

Email: [email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Photo credit: Murali Krishna

Front cover: Middle Box: Particolored Gliding Squirrel (Top left); Common Palm Civet (Top Right & Bottom Left) Masked Palm Civet (Bottom Right); The Team in the centre. Lower Box: Panoramic View of Namdapha National Park. Back cover: Camp at Hornbill (Top) & solar plates for charging the equipment (Bottom)

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Investigating the Foraging Patterns and Distribution of Nocturnal Frugivores with Special Focus on Conservation Threats In Namdapha National Park, Arunachal Pradesh,

India

Final report January 2015

Project Investigator Murali Krishna

Research Affiliates Dr. Awadhesh Kumar, Parimal Chandra Ray & Kuladip Sarma

Technical Support

Dr. Jyotishman Deka (RS & GIS)

Project period: January 2014 ‐ December 2014

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PROGRAM ASSOCIATES

PROJECT INVESTIGATOR RESEARCH AFFILIATES RESEARCH AFFILIATES

Murali Krishna Dr. Awadhesh Kumar Parimal Chandra Ray

RESEARCH AFFILIATES TECHNICAL SUPPORT LOCAL FIELD STAFF

Kuladip Sarma Dr. Jyotishman Deka Bironjay Basumtary

LOCAL FIELD STAFF LOCAL FIELD STAFF LOCAL FIELD STAFF

Erebo Chakma Tinku Chakma Sambu Chakma

OTHER FUNDING SOURCES

Idea Wild Grant, USA – Equipment Grant. (2011 - 2012)

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CONTENTS

Page Number Acknowledgements 1 Summary 2 Introduction 4 Study Area 8

Objective 1 Foraging and distributional patterns of nocturnal frugivores in Namdapha National Park

Methods 9 Results 9 Discussion 19

Objective 2 Drivers involved in hunting of nocturnal frugivores in Namdapha National Park


Objective 3 Status of few nocturnal frugivores (additional objective)


Photo plates 26 References 31 Appendix 36

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Acknowledgments We thank the PCCF, Arunachal Pradesh Forest Department, for providing us with

permissions to carry out the research. I thank the Field Director, Assistant Field

Director, Research Officer (Tajum Yomcha), and the Range officers, Beat officers, Field

staff (permanent & contingency) of Namdapha National Park cum Tiger Reserve for

helping us in various ways to carry out the research work and for providing logistic

support.

We thank the Chakmas, Lisus, Lamas, Miju-Mishmis community peoples for their

support during the project. The Head-man’s of the Lama Camp, Budhisutta, 32nd Mile

for their kind help during the project. I thank Y. Srinivas (Wildlife Institute of India (WII))

for his inputs during the project. Also, I thank Karthik Teegalapalli (National

Conservation Foundation (NCF)), Ambika Ayyundorai (National University of

Singapore) for their guidance during the project planning and execution. I also thank

Rubul Buragohain, Amal Bawri and Anup Kumar Das (all the three from NERIST) for

helping us in identifying the plant specimens. Acknowledging Pupla Singpho and &

Pikon has not to be forgotten for his their kind help in arranging accommodation and for

other logistic support at Miao in during our tough times.

Will Duckworth (Co-Chair, Small Carnivore Conservation, IUCN), Dr. Aparajita Datta

(Senior Scientist, NCF, India) & Dr. Srinivasulu, (Osmania University) are sincerely

thanked for their inputs without which the project could have not been possible.

The work was also made possible from the equipment grant provided by Idea Wild

Grant, USA which has to be acknowledged.

Big thanks to Ranjan Kumar Das for helpful photography trips and for sharing his

knowledge about the area. Last but not the least, I thank, Bironjay Basumatary, Erebo

Chakma, Tinku Chakma, Japang Pansa (Mahoot), Gopal Chetry & Anil Gogoi (Cook’s)

for their assistance during the field work.

Murali Krishna

Nirjuli, Arunachal Pradesh, India

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Summary We have been involved in various project with regard to ecology and conservation of

primates, birds in Namdapha National Park since 2010. It was in 2011, we started our

work on Nocturnal Mammals, mainly the Red Giant Gliding Squirrel. I was involved in

studying the ecology of the species. Namdapha is a home to array of frugivores. If we

look up globally, the work on diurnal frugivores appear to be vast but spare data occurs

on the ecology and conservation aspects of nocturnal frugivores. Thus the idea was to

put up a study that focuses on the ecology and conservation aspects of nocturnal

frugivores in Namdapha. It is a home to four species of gliding squirrels and six species

of Civets and a Loris.

The ecology of the species especially the feeding habits were observed during the

study. Also, the distribution maps of the species were build and are overlaid so that

these maps will help the Forest department in formulating the conservation action plans

of the species within the park. Also, data on hunting and use pattern were collected

from local tribes with great difficulty as none were interested in sharing the data.

Moreover the forest department’s strict orders have restricted the movement of locals

into the park for non timber forest products (NTFP’s) and the village head-man have

asked the people of the respective villages to stop hunting thus calling for a ban.

However, the encounters of the species especially the civets were very low. But, the

data collected is first of its kind using the spot light technique and scan sampling.

Contribution of work by each research investigator

Ecological data was conducted by me and point location data were collected by Parimal

Chandra Ray. Dr. Awadhesh Kumar has provided us with technical inputs of data

collection. Kuladip Sarma accompanied me in few visits and is important in distribution

map building and overlay of different species. Jyotishman Deka was involved in map

building and modelling work.

Plant identification was mostly done by Rubul Burgohain, Amal Bawri and Anup Kumar

Das with the help of photographs and specimens at NERIST.

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Disclaimer: The data presented in few portions of the report are preliminary findings, And further data collection and analysis is needed for drawing final conclusions. Note: There is no mention of tribe name and village names in many places throughout the text. Because, the people’s denied to put their tribe name and village name. So keeping the ethics in mind, we have not mentioned much about the tribes and villages.

(The whole document is prepared in Word of Office 2013. So the graphics and fonts might look different when viewed under lower versions of Office viz., 2003; 2007; 2010)

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Introduction

Eastern Himalaya The Eastern Himalayan region is a congregation of globally important plants diversity

along with more than 175 species of mammals and 500 species of avifauna. The reason for

such rich diversity could be perhaps due to multiple bio-geographic origins, its considerable

climatic variability, and its topographic complexity that has created isolated habitat islands

stretching across its vast mountain ranges. The variation in altitudes ranges from 100 meters to

more than 8,000 meters, and rainfall varies from 2,000 mm per year in monsoon-facing (south

and east-facing) slopes to desert-like conditions in the northern and western rain-shadows. The

Eastern Himalayas’ biological diversity is paralleled by great political and cultural diversity. The

region is home to more than 100 million people of multiple ethnicities and religions. It covers a

vast range of area lying between Nepal and Myanmar including India. The Indian States viz.,

Sikkim, North Bengal and other north-eastern states (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland,

Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram & Tripura) (Anonymous, 2011).

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh is in a portion of Eastern Himalayan global biodiversity hotspot

(Myers et al., 2000) and falls among the 200 globally important eco-regions (Olson & Dinerstein,

1998). The state harbours world’s northernmost tropical rainforests with a total of 82% of its

geographical area under forest. Over 7000‐8000 species of flowering plants occur here (nearly

50 % of the total flowering plants in India) and 625 orchid species are reported from Arunachal.

These forests inhabit more than 200 mammalian species and over 600 avian species (Rao &

Hajra, 1986; Whitmore, 1998; Procter et al., 1998; Aiyadurai, 2007; Datta et al., 2008).

Arunachal Pradesh has been a home of discoveries in the recent decades, where till date 4

species of mammals (among these 3 are new to science and one addition to India) and a bird

species have been discovered from this region. These discoveries are new species of gliding

squirrels, mishmi hills giant gliding squirrel (P. mishmiensis) (Choudhary, 2007; 2009),

Arunachal macaque (Macaca munzala) (Sinha et al., 2005) Leaf Deer (Muntiacus putaoensis)

(Datta, 2003) and Bugan liocichla (Liocichla bugunorum) (Athreya, 2006) are the discoveries.

Apart, photographic evidences of Small toothed Palm Civet and Critically Endangered White

bellied heron (Ardea insigns) too appear from this place (Krishna et al, 2012a; 2014).

Arunachal Pradesh, termed as the Land of Rising Sun is blessed with rich culture and

ethnic tribes. The state is a home to 25 major and 110 ethnic sub-tribes (Murali & Kumar, 2013).

These tribals have a long history of hunting practice where the wild animals are killed as a

source of bushmeat collection and the skins and the skulls are displayed as trophies in the

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houses of tribals (Krishna & Kumar, 2012b). The tribals usually practice slash and burn for

agriculture. Also, plenty of plain areas are converted to agricultural land. Crops like Mustard

Sinapis alba, Maize Zea mays, Ginger Zingiber officinale and Turmeric Curcuma longa etc. are

grown. Also, fruit orchards such as apple, pine apple, kiwi, pears etc. have increased bringing

down the forest area due to forest clearing and tree felling.

Frugivores

Basic knowledge about fruit-frugivore interactions, and especially the seed dispersal

process in forest ecosystems, is essential for conservation of endangered animals and the

forest itself (Corlett 1998; Silva and Tabarelli 2000). Tropical rain forests are by far the richest

terrestrial ecosystems in the world. Much of this diversity is accounted for by the richness of

frugivores, which are wholly or partly dependent on flowers, fruits and seeds (Howe 1986).

These forests differ from other kinds of forests in that a high proportion (typically 50-90%) of

their trees and shrubs produce fleshy fruits (drupes, berries, and arillate forms) that are eaten

by a large number of vertebrates, insects, fungi, and bacteria. The year-round availability of fruit

has led to the evolution of many specialized vertebrate frugivores in the New World (e.g.,

among birds, the oilbird, toucans, cotingids, and manakins; among mammals, phyllostomatid

bats, platyrrhine monkeys, and certain procyonids) and the Old World tropics (e.g., among

birds, musophagids, colies, barbets, fruit pigeons, and birds of paradise; among mammals,

mega chiropteran bats, many primates, and certain viverrid carnivores). These species and a

host of more opportunistic vertebrates are involved in a mutualistic exploitation system with their

food plants: The animals provide seed dispersal services while gaining a meal (Fleming, 1979).

In the tropics, where frugivores are the dominant group of vertebrates (Gautier-Hion et

al. 1985), there have been few studies about which frugivores disperse which seeds, and the

degree to which plants and animals rely on one another. However, with the exception of studies

on bats, large rodents and deer; most research has focused on diurnal animals. As a result,

studies on nocturnal and terrestrial animals are rare in comparison globally which made us to

design the present study.

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Background to current research Globally, diurnal frugivores have received major attention and thus appear majority of

the studies on the diurnal frugivores. Whereas, sparse data appears over the nocturnal

frugivores as studies on nocturnal frugivores are not that common that led us to studying on this

topic i.e. mainly on the feeding habits of the nocturnal frugivores. And more over through our 4-

5 years of experience, we observed that Namdapha national park holds array of nocturnal

frugivores and through informal talks with the locals, we understood that the nocturnal

frugivores especially the red giant gliding squirrel is used for ethno-zoological purposes. Thus,

we took up this study for studying the feeding ecology and threats the species face in

Namdapha National Park.

Specific objectives under the project (January 2014‐ December 2015)

1.) Foraging and distributional patterns of nocturnal frugivores in Namdapha National

Park.

2.) Drivers involved in hunting of nocturnal frugivores in Namdapha National Park.

3.) Status of few nocturnal frugivores (additional objective)

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Study Area

Overview

Namdapha National Park (27°23'30” ‐ 27°39'40”N and 96°15'2” ‐ 96°58'33”E; 1985 km2)

is situated in the Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh, north‐east India (Fig. 1). The site

harbours some of the northernmost tropical rainforests in the world (Proctor et al., 1998) and

extensive dipterocarp forests. The elevation ranges from 200 to 4571 m. With increasing

elevation, there is a transition in habitat to subtropical broad‐leaved forests, subtropical pine

forests, temperate broad‐leaved forests, alpine meadows and perennial snow. Though primary

forests cover most of the park, there are extensive bamboo and secondary forests. The park

lies within the Indo‐Myanmar global biodiversity hotspot (Myers et al., 2000) at the junction of

the Palearctic and Malayan biogeographic realms resulting in a highly diverse species

assemblage. The Diversity The park is a home to about 96 species of mammal species including nine species of

felids, two bear species, 15 viverrid and mustelid species and seven primate species (including

one ape species) and four species of mountain ungulates. Recent surveys reported the

presence of leaf deer (Muntiacus putaoensis) and the black barking deer (Muntiacus crinifrons)

which appear to the first records from the country. In recent years, the elephant populations in

the Namdapha area have declined. However, camera trapping has revealed few herds in

Bulbulia area (sulphur spring) of the park. The park is a home to the endemic mammal species

like Namdapha gliding squirrel (Biswamoyopterus biswasi) (Saha, 1981). Also, the park is a

home to many other lesser known rodents, bats and shrews (Datta, 2008). Further biological

surveys are very much needed for estimating the mammalian diversity.

Coming to aves, nearly 425 bird species are recorded from the park. The area is a home

to five species of hornbills and several pheasant species. Several species of rare wren

babblers, laughing thrushes, parrot bills, fulvettas, shrike babblers and scimitar babblers,

yuhina’s add to the bird diversity making it a birding paradise. Namdapha is one of just 2 sites

known to support the snowy‐throated babbler (Stachyrei oglei) (Datta, 2008). Other rare,

restricted range or globally endangered species include the White‐bellied heron, Rufous‐necked

hornbill, Green Cochoa, Purple Cochoa, Beautiful nuthatch, Ward’s trogon, Ruddy kingfisher,

Blue‐eared kingfisher, White‐tailed fishing eagle, Eurasian hobby, Pied falconet, White‐winged

wood duck, Himalayan wood owl, Rufous‐throated hill partridge, and White‐cheeked hill

partridge (Datta, 2008). Recent studies revealed the nesting sites of critically endangered white

bellied heron in the park. Several long term studies in the higher elevations might up to the bird

diversity in future.

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Apart, 200 plant species belonging to 73 families are recorded from NNP (Nath et al.,

2005). Also, 25 amphibian, 50 reptiles, 76 fishes, 140 butterflies and moths and numerous

invertebrates are reported to occur in the park (Ghosh, 1987; Singh et al., year of publishing

unknown).

Tribal Communities

Several indigenous tribes and other communities reside in and around the park; viz.,

Lisu, Chakma, Miju Mishmi, Singhpo, Nepali etc. However those that primarily affect the park

are the Chakma, Miju Mishmi and the Lisu (Datta, 2007). The Chakma and Miju Mishmi enter

the park for fuel wood, nontimber forest produce collection (Arunachalam et al., 2004), hunting

and fishing.

A B

C

Fig. 1. A – India; B – Aruanchal Pradesh; (A & B source – Internet); C – Namdapha National Park (Datta, 2008).

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Objectives 1.

Foraging and distributional patterns of nocturnal frugivores in Namdapha National Park.

Methods:

Feeding:

Animals were located by scanning the canopy with red lights. On sighting an animal, two

spotlights (6 V, solar powered) and National Geographic 5× night-vision binoculars were used

to identify and observe the species. Heights of animals above ground were measured using a

Bosch laser distance measurer. Feeding observations were recorded using scan sampling (see

Altmann, 1974), which started after sunset and continued till sunrise. Care was taken not to use

spotlights for longer periods as the animals tend to be disturbed. So, the behaviour was

recorded mostly using the night vision binocular.

Distributional Pattern:

The geo-coordinates of different species were collected, Ecological niche modelling of some

selected nocturnal frugivores was done using Maximum Entropy Modelling algorithm taking

environmental variables from worldclim database (www.worldclim.org).

Results:

Diversity:

The forest trails around Gibbon’s land, Deban, Haldibari, Hornbill Camp, Bulbulia,

Firmbase areas were thoroughly surveyed using spotlighting technique. The nocturnal

frugivores diversity included 2 species of gliding squirrels, 6 species of civets and a Loris

species (Table 1). As per IUCN, 2 species under Vulnerable category were observed i.e., the

Binturong and Bengal Slow Loris. Apart from this during the survey, the other nocturnal

mammals that we observed, were Sambar (Rusa unicolor), Barking deer (Muntiacus muntjack),

Leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis), Fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus), Common leopard

(Panthers pardus), Himalayan crestless porcupine (Hystrix brachyuran), Brush tailed porcupine

(Atherurus macrourus) etc.

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Table 1: Nocturnal frugivores species diversity as recorded during our night survey

conducted in Namdapha National Park from January to December 2014.

Sl.No Common Name Latin Name Family IUCN

Rodentia

1. Red giant gliding squirrel Petaurista petaurista Sciuridae Least Concern

2. Particolored gliding squirrel Hylopetes alboniger Sciuridae Least Concern

Carnivora

3. Common Palm Civet Paradoxurus hermaphroditus Viverridae Least Concern

4. Large Indian Civet Vivvera zibetha Viverridae Least Concern

5. Small Indian Civet Vivvera indica Viverridae Least Concern

6. Masked Palm Civet Paguma larvata Viverridae Least Concern

7. Small Toothed Palm Civet Arctogalidia trivirigata Viverridae Least Concern

8. Binturong Arctictis binturong Viverridae Vulnerable

Primates

9. Bengal Slow Loris Nycticebus bengalensis Lorisidae Vulnerable

Feeding:

Feeding observations for the nocturnal mammals were collected for three seasons’ viz.,

summer, monsoon and winter. The maximum number of total observations on feeding was

observed for the Red giant gliding squirrel followed by Particolored gliding squirrel and Common

palm civet. Whereas, the minimum number of total observations was recorded for the Bengal

slow loris. The highest data was recorded in winter followed by Monsoon and summer. The data

is recorded in table 2.

Table 2: Seasonal feeding records observed per species during our study conducted

in Namdapha National Park from January to December 2014.

S.No. Species Summer Monsoon Winter Total

1 Red giant gliding squirrel 90 56 174 320

2 Particolored gliding squirrel 26 38 42 106

3 Common palm civet 12 22 38 72

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4 Large Indian civet -- 10 14 24

5 Small Indian civet -- 4 10 14

6 Masked palm civet 10 10 36 56

7 Binturong -- -- 10 10

8 Bengal Slow loris 1 -- 8 9

Total 611

Feeding Trees:

A total of 18 fruit trees belonging to 12 genera and 10 families were identified over which the

nocturnal frugivores fed. Neolamarckia cadamba and ficus sp. were identified as the important

fruit trees over which the majority of mammals were dependent. Moraceae represented as the

dominant family among the feeding trees and others represented a family each (Table 3) (Fig

1).

Table 3: List of tree species on which the nocturnal frugivores were depended.

S.No Tree Species Dependent Nocturnal Mammals Season Family

1. Altingia excelsa Red giant gliding squirrel Winter Hamamelidaceae

2. Artocarpus chaplasa

Particolored gliding squirrel Winter Moraceae

3. Biscofia javanica Common Palm Civet Winter Bischofiaceae

4. Cannarium strictum

Large Indian Civet Winter Burseraceae

5. Castonopsis indica Red giant gliding squirrel Winter Fagaceae

6. Chukrasia tubularis

Red giant gliding squirrel

Slow Loris Winter, Summer

Meliaceae

7. Duabanga grandiflora

Red giant gliding squirrel Winter Lythraceae

8. Ficus altissima Red giant gliding squirrel

Particolored gliding squirrel Summer, Monsoon

Moraceae

9. Ficus bengalensis

Common Palm Civet


Particolored gliding squirrel

Summer

Moraceae

10. Ficus drupacea

Binturong



Winter

Moraceae

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moraceae

11. Ficus heterophylla Red giant gliding squirrel Winter Moraceae

12. Ficus heteropleura

Common palm civet

Masked palm civet



Winter, summer

Moraceae

13. Ficus rumphii Red giant gliding squirrel Summer Moraceae

14. Gynocardia odorata

Common palm civet Winter Achariaceae

15. Magnolia graifitti Masked palm civet

Common palm civet Summer

Magnoliaceae

16. Neolamarckia cadamba

Masked palm civet

Large Indian civet

Small Indian civet



Slow loris

Winter, Monsoon

Rubiaceae

17 Syzygium cumini

Common palm civet

Small Indian Civet


Monsoon

Myrtaceae

18. Unknown sp. Common palm civet Winter

Fig 1: Family wise list of tree species.

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Non plant products fed on by nocturnal frugivores:

Apart from the plant products, observations were made where the civets were seen feeding on

birds, fish and small mammals. Most feeding observations were on pompadour green pigeon by

Small Indian Civet followed by the other species as mentioned in table 4. Highest feeding on

non-plant products was observed in summer season.

Table 4: List of Non- plant products fed by the nocturnal frugivores

S.No Animals predated on Dependent Nocturnal Mammals Season No. of

Observations

1. Pompadour Green pigeon

Small Indian Civet (SIC)

Common palm Civet (CPC)

Masked palm Civet (MPC)

Winter

4 (SIC)

6 (SIC)

2 (MIC)

2. Rodent Small Indian Civet (SIC)

Common palm Civet (CPC) Summer

2 (MIC)

1 (MIC)

3. Silver Eared Mesia Small Indian Civet (SIC) Monsoon 2 (SIC)

4. Fish Large Indian Civet (LIC) Summer 1 (LIC)

Distribution Pattern:

Predictive distribution modelling was done to show the possible distribution of the

nocturnal frugivores in the tropical belt with respect to their present environment in the

Namdapha National Park. The modelling was done to produce distribution maps based on the

GPS locations collected from ground and with the help of bio-climatic variables. The distribution

maps are as shown below (Fig 2 – Fig 6). Jackknife validation was done and the Area under

curve (AUC) was found near to 0.99 making the model acceptable. The influence of the bio-

climatic variable for each species are mentioned in the table 5. We could build the maps only to

5 species.

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Table 5: Showing the important bioclimatic variable influencing the species

distribution

S.No: Species Influencing

Bio-climatic variable

Percent Contribution Permutation Importance

1. Common Palm Civet Bio2* 37.3 73.7

2. Large Indian Civet Bio2* 52.4 70.2

3. Masked Palm Civet Bio3** 24.1 20.6

4. Red Giant Gliding Squirrel Bio3** 25.3 29.7

5. Bengal Slow Loris Bio2* 48.5 32.9

*Bio 2 is Mean diurnal range (mean of monthly max. and min. temp.)

**Bio 3 is Isothermality

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Fig 2: Showing the possible distribution pattern on Common palm civet.

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Fig 3: Showing the possible distribution pattern on Large Indian Civet.

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Fig 4: Showing the possible distribution pattern on Masked palm civet.

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Fig 5: Showing the possible distribution pattern on Red Giant Gliding Squirrel.

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Fig 6: Showing the possible distribution pattern on Bengal Slow Loris.

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Discussion:

Feeding:

In the present study, as the encounter rates of the species were less (discussed in

objective 3) and thus the data collected was not much. And as such, final conclusions on the

feeding habits can’t be completely drawn. Through this study, it was understood that the gliding

squirrels seemed to be much frugivorous in comparison to civets. There was very less data

collected on Bengal slow Loris. So, we have not included the species in discussion with regard to

diet.

All the species seemed to be highly frugivorous seasonally. Whereas the civets

depended on animal matter in summer season. Similar observations were made for masked

palm civet from Japan (see. Matsuo & Ochiai, 2009). Even in case of observations made for

Common palm civet in Kerala of India, It was observed that the species fed mostly on fruit

matter followed by animal matters (Jotish, 2011). Also, civets i.e., Binturong in general are

termed as hypo carnivores which depends upon a lot of fruit and animal matters (Prater

1971, Lambert 1990). All these observations support our observations. Also, fig dependency

by civets was observed along with gliding squirrels in summer and winter seasons. High

level of Fig dependency was even doubted in case of civet species like Binturong in a study

conducted by Murali et. al., 2013. In this study, it was observed that the binturong heavily

depended on fig species in winter in Namdapha National Park. The gliding squirrels were

highly frugivorous seasonally. They depended on resins, flowers along with young and

mature leaves during the fruit deficit seasons (Personal observation) making it a strong

frugivores seasonally.

Distribution:

The species was found to be distributed along the river and in the Hornbill, Haldibari

and Happy valley areas of the park which fall under tropical belt. These areas too harbour

the tree species that are mostly fed upon by these nocturnal frugivores. Most portions

towards the northeast portion of the park fall under temperate and alpine scrubs, And thus

the species distribution doesn’t appear to fall under this region. Also, no point location data

was collected from that regions as these regions remain mostly inaccessible. Moreover, our

predictive modelling distribution maps were based on the ground thruthing data that signifies

the authenticity of the final outputs.

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Objective 2.

Drivers involved in hunting of nocturnal frugivores in Namdapha

National Park.

Methods:

Hunting and use pattern:

Snowball sampling approach (Goodman, 1961) was used in which, a hunter was asked to

introduce to other hunter and a traditional healer to another. The hunter and traditional

healers initially in the community were selected through the suggestions from village head-

man. Thus the focus of this study was not to quantifying hunting but to examine the practice

of hunting and to know the use pattern in the park. Animal species hunted were identified by

using the mammals of India book (With coloured photographs). The questionnaire survey

was followed to get further information as mentioned below.

Questionnaire Survey:

In this method, semi structured interviews were conducted to know the quick responses on

the methods of hunting, Season of hunting, purpose of hunting, preferences among the

nocturnal mammals, use pattern such as for cultural, bush-meat and trade. Mostly the

surveys were conducted during the evenings when locals are free from their work.

(Questionnaire attached as appendix I)

Results:

A total of 17 ex-hunters and 9 traditional healers were interviewed from 5 villages which

included Chakma, Lisu and Miju-mishmi people. The hunters preferred local guns for hunting

followed by snare and mentioned monsoon and winter as their favourable hunting season.

Traditional healers explained the use pattern of the nocturnal frugivores and the uses are

mentioned in table 6. No differentiation on the use pattern of the species are mentioned

separately in the table tribe wise as the tribes have common beliefs in most of the cases.

20

Table 6: List of Animals hunted and their use as collected from our questionnaire

based survey

S.No: Species Use Season of use Other Comments

1. Red giant gliding squirrel

Bush meat & ethno-zoological

Throughout the year

Kernels of Oryza spp. are stored in the urine and are consumed for the treatment of kidney stones.

2. Particolored gliding squirrel Bushmeat Throughout the

year ---

3. Binturong Bushmeat & cultural use Winter

The hair of the species is tied to the waist of the children on Thursdays to treat fever and also from evil spirits.

4. Common palm civet Bushmeat Winter Hunted in winter as the species odour remains less due to fat deposit

5. Masked palm civet Bushmeat Winter Hunted in winter as the species odour remains less due to fat deposit

6. Large Indian civet Bushmeat Winter Hunted in winter as the species odour remains less due to fat deposit

7. Bengal slow loris Bush meat & ethno-zoological

Throughout the year

Skin and hair used in healing the cuts and wounds

Discussion:

Hunting of wildlife is a long back practice in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. The

tribals have a long history of hunting and dependency on various wildlife species as a source

of bushmeat (Aiyadurai, 2007). It was also observed that the wildlife species is hunted as a

part of bush-meat collection, sport hunting and for ritual and ethno-zoological purposes.

Wildlife plays an important role in ethno-zoological purposes in the tribal states of Northeast

India and Southeast Asia in general (see-Alves et al. 2010). In the present study, it was

observed that the civets were mostly hunted as a part of bushmeat. The species were

hunted in winter and the reason for preference in winter is due to its bulkiness and the

species emit less smell in the season. Also, the hunters used local guns and snare traps to

kill and trap the species respectively. Some have even reported to use catapults for killing

the gliding squirrels.

The ethno-zoological use of the gliding squirrels was observed in the study area.

However, the decline in hunting practice and due to strict orders from the Gaon Buras

21

(village head-men), the people were not interested in sharing the information. Also, the forest

department has laid strict orders on hunting thus bringing down the hunting practice in the

protected area. The use of slow loris skin and hair in the treatment of wounds was observed.

Old skins of slow loris were observed in the villages. The use of slow loris in ethno-

zoological purposes and as taboos is noted in few south-east Asian countries also (See

Nijman & Nekaris, 2014). The main reason for the practice of wildlife hunting in the park is

due to many socio-economic aspects. This can be better understood through Datta’s popular book chapter on Threatened Forests and Forgotten people Pages 165-199.

22

Objective 3.

Status of few nocturnal frugivores (additional objective)

Methods:

Spotlight count method (Lee et al., 1993; Ray et al., 2012) was used in the established

permanent trails in the different study areas. In this method, nocturnal mammals were

counted 2-4 nights per month in a season between 1800-2400 hrs – when the nocturnal

mammals seem to be most active. Nocturnal mammals were detected by an orange/red

reflection produced from its eyes (Barrett, 1984; Lee et al., 1986). Also, on confirmation of

animal, attempt was made to identify the species.

Encounter Rates: The encounter rate was calculated as the number of gliding squirrels

sighted per kilometre of trail walked by following the method of Sutherland (2002).

Results:

Out of 14 trails with walking effort of 48 km, it was observed that the encounter rates were

high in case of Red giant gliding squirrel (1.3 individuals/km) followed by particolored gliding

squirrel and the least encounter rates were observed for Small and Large Indian Civets (0.1

individuals/km each) (Table 7). The encounter rates were calculated for only winter season.

Table 7: Encounter rates of different nocturnal species:

S.No Species Trail length (Km)

Total Walking effort (Km)

Encounter rate (Individuals/km)

1. Red giant gliding squirrel 14 48 1.3

2. Particolored gliding squirrel 14 48 0.9

3. Common palm civet 14 48 0.2

4. Masked palm civet 14 48 0.2

5. Small Indian civet 14 48 0.1

6. Large Indian civet 14 48 0.1

7 Bengal slow loris 14 48 0.4

23

Discussion:

Namdapha National Park was threatened in the past due to hunting practices. Low

encounter rates were observed in the previous studies conducted by Datta et al., (2008).

Currently, due to the ban on hunting in the surrounding villages along with the strict orders of

forest department has brought down hunting pressure. However, hunting still gets unnoticed

in few areas especially in rainy season. The reason is the lack for forest department staff

and though topography along with harsh climatic conditions. Also, lack of basic medical

facilities make the tribals to depend on the wildlife for various purposes.

The encounter rates were observed high for Red giant gliding squirrel followed by

Particolored gliding squirrels. This can be compared to various studies around the world.

The reasons in variations in encounter rate could be habitat quality, type, survey season etc.

(Table 8). Also, less encounter rates were observed for the civet species. Similar

observations were made by Datta et al., (2008) in the study area through camera trapping

surveys. The reasons for less encounter rates could be due to historic hunting practice.

Table 8: Encounter rates of Giant gliding squirrels observed in different studies

till date:

Study Site Species Encounter rate (individuals/km)

Source

Chitou Experimental

Forest

Red giant gliding Squirrel

(P. petaurista)

0.47 (Conifer Forest)

1.96 (Hardwood forest)

Lee et al., 1993

Assam and Meghalaya,

India


(P. petaurista)

0.10 - 0.77 (Various forest

types)

Radhakrishna et al.,

2006

Khao Ang Rue Nai

Wildlife Sanctuary,

Eastern Thailand


(P. petaurista)

0.36 (Primary forest) Plisoungnoen et al.,

2010

Joypore Reserve Forest,

Assam, India


(P. petaurista)

0.85 Ray et al., 2012

Western Ghats, India Brown giant gliding

squirrel (Petaurista

phillipensis)

0.55 Kumara & Singh

2004


squirrel (P. phillipensis)

0.28 (Brahmagiri-Makut)

0.03 (Pushpagiri-Bisale)

Kumara & Singh

2006

24

0.29 (Sirsi-Honnavara)

1.33 (Nagarahole)



1.5 (Cardamom plantations)

1.29 (Moist deciduous forest)

0.7 (Evergreen forest)

0.3 (Coffee plantations)

None (Teak Forest)

Ashraf et al., 1993.

Forest fragments of

Western Ghats, India

Brown giant gliding


0.1 (forest edges)

3.92 (forest interiors)

5.62 (Coffee plantations)

Nandini &

Parthasarathy, 2008.

Tropical Deciduous

forests, Rajasthan, India

Brown giant gliding


0.05 Koli et al., 2013

Final Words:

Local authority of Namdapha National Park i.e. the forest department being the

primary organization along with the support of local, regional and national level Non-

Government Organizations (NGOs) and researchers and scientists working in around the

park are the first hands to provide support for conservation and management of park’s

wildlife. Also, they should be involved in spreading the awareness about wildlife importance

among the local communities apart from educating them. The foresaid groups and

organizations have to highlight the importance of the area at broader scale leading to

advertise the Namdapha National Park to be a best destination for wildlife and nature

tourism. It will help in generating the employment as well as improving livelihood standard of

local people if this boosts the tourists to reach this area. The more the tourists the more the

employment leading to species conservation. Species conservation is nowhere. It is in our

hands if properly taken care.

25

Photo Plates:

A view of Namdapha National Park

A trail that was surveyed

A Red giant gliding squirrel.

26

A Binturong over a Ficus drupeace tree A Common Palm

A Masked Palm Civet A Particolored gliding squirrel feeding

over Neolamarkiana cadamba fruit

27

Other Wildlife & Skins Sighted during the Survey in the park and in the villages

A Bengal Slow Loris skin with hair seen

during the village survey

A Bengal slow Loris

A Barking deer A Leopard Cat

28

Few fruit species fed by Nocturnal frugivores

Artocarpus sp. fed by the particolored

gliding squirrel

Ficus rumphii

Unripe Neolamarckia cadamba fruits fed by

the gliding squirrels Comparison among figs of different

species.

29

People at Work

PI (Murali Krishna) at work

The team Video-graphing the species

in the night The team during the night walk (to the

left Erebo Chakma and towards the right Tinku Chakma)

The team in the morning (on the left Parimal Ray, PI in the

middle & on right Erebo Chakma) under a huge fig tree

A tough river crossing

Bironjay Basumatary holding the search lights during the survey

An elephant hired to carry the luggage for

camping inside the jungle

Along with village heads men of 32nd mile village

Along with Research officer (Tajum

Yomcha) of Namdapha National Park before the start of the night survey

With Kuladip (right) before the start

of survey.

30

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35

ANNEXURE

ANNEXURE I

Questionnaire

Hunting patterns, frequencies, techniques and taboos:

Name:

Village: Dist.:

GPS location of village:

Religion / cultural belief:

Name of the person interviewed: Age: Sex:

1. Which nocturnal mammals do you hunt now?

2. Among the nocturnal mammals you hunt, which species are preferred and why?

3. Preferred time of the night for hunting. Why?

4. What is the preferred season for hunting? Why?

5. How many hunting trips are made in a month/week?

6. Do you own a gun? IF YES, Purchased or made

7. Do you share weapons? YES/ NO

8. Which method do you prefer to hunt? (Guns/Traditional method) Why?

9. What is the cost of wild meat? Cost (Rs/kg) Fresh and Dry

10. Do you sell live nocturnal mammals? YES/NO. If sold, what is the cost?

11. Are there any taboos on hunting any nocturnal mammals? If yes, which animals and

why?

12. What is the actual purpose of hunting nocturnal mammals? (Socio-cultural/ bush-meat)

36

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