Food Habits of Tiger (Panthera tigris) in Reserve Forest of Uttarakhand, India

Kaleem Ahmed, Nazneen Zehra, Jamal A Khan

Abstract


Food availability and utilization are among the most critical factors influencing the distribution of free-ranging animals. Little is known about the feeding habit of the tiger (Panther tigris) outside the tiger reserves. We collected data on the diet ecology of the tiger in the reserve forest of Kumaon Himalayas, Uttarakhand, India. Scats analysis was used to determine the food habit of the tiger. A total of 55 scats were collected and analyzed. The overall diet diversity of tigers in DWA (Shannon-Wiener Index H') was 2.923.  Scat contents were analyzed in terms of both the relative frequency of occurrence and the relative prey biomass consumed. A minimum of 13 different prey species were identified, of which chital constituted 30.91% of the diet followed by sambar (21.82%). The wild prey constituted 77.36% of the diet, whereas domestic prey constituted 23.64% of the diet. Prey selectivity analysis indicated that selective predation by tigers was directed towards prey species with large body mass. This highlights the importance of adjacent forests around protected areas that helps large carnivores to disperse spatially and temporally during resource crunch, competition, and dispersal.

Keywords


Food habit, Reserve forest, Tiger, Watershed, Prey, Biomass

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