Monitoring Spatial and Seasonal Abundance of Indian Wild Ass (Equus hemionus khur) in Little Rann of Kutch Landscape, Western India

Jump To References Section

Authors

  • Bidyut B. Barman
     Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Post Box No.18, Dehradun – 248001, Uttarakhand ,IN
  • Nita Shah
     Bombay Natural History Society, Hornbill House, Dr. Salim Ali Chawk, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road, Mumbai - 400001, Maharashtra ,IN
  • Ashish Prasad
     Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Post Box No.18, Dehradun – 248001, Uttarakhand ,IN
  • Abesh Sanyal
     Zoological Survey of India, Dharamtala, Taltala, Kolkata-700016, West Bengal ,IN
  • Vishal Chavda
     Van Chetna Kendra, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad – 380015, Gujarat ,IN
  • Qamar Qureshi
     Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Post Box No.18, Dehradun – 248001, Uttarakhand ,IN

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18311/jeoh/2021/29033

Keywords:

Khur, Line Transect, Population Density, Semi-arid Landscape, Surra
Population Ecology, Ecological Census Technique

Abstract

The present study was conducted in Little Rann of Kutch (LRK) landscape in the Gujarat state of western India. It is a vast saline mud-plain holding the last remaining source population of Indian wild ass (Equus hemionus khur) or Khur after its population from other parts of the world got locally extinct. Khur occupy fringes of the Sanctuary and bets (islands) having grassland and scrubland vegetation. Taking adequate and effective management decisions and monitoring would be difficult in absence of reliable information. Line transect sampling will ensure robust population estimate of Khur. By bridging this gap with adequate information, meaningful and effective management decisions can be taken. We have conducted line transect surveys using foot and vehicle transect following distance sampling in southern fringe as intensive study site. The density estimates (No./km2 ± SE) in southern fringe of LRK during two surveys were 5.76 ± 0.91, 6.08 ± 1.39 in winter and 2.29 ± 0.55 in summer from foot transect and 5.2 ± 0.73, 6.72 ± 1.12 in winter and 4.29 ± 0.87 in summer from vehicle transect, respectively. The study will help managers to evaluate long term monitoring method and make adaptive management decisions.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Downloads

Published

2022-01-06

How to Cite

Barman, B. B., Shah, N., Prasad, A., Sanyal, A., Chavda, V., & Qureshi, Q. (2022). Monitoring Spatial and Seasonal Abundance of Indian Wild Ass (<i>Equus hemionus khur</i>) in Little Rann of Kutch Landscape, Western India. Journal of Ecophysiology and Occupational Health, 21(4), 168–174. https://doi.org/10.18311/jeoh/2021/29033

Issue

Volume 21, Issue 4, December 2021

Section

Articles
Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC
Received 2021-11-24
Accepted 2021-12-07
Published 2022-01-06

 

References

Robinson JG, Redford KH. Body size, diet and population density of Neotropical forest mammals. The American Naturalist. 1986; 128(5):665–80. https://doi.org/10.1086/284596

Duncan P. Zebras, Asses and Horses: An action plan for the conservation of wild equids. IUCN:Gland, Switzerland; 1992. p. 36.

Shah NV. Ecology of wild ass (Equus hemionus khur) in Little Rann of Kutch. [Ph.D.Diss]. M.S. University, Baroda, Gujarat. 1993.

Moehlman PD. Equids--zebras, asses and horses: Status survey and conservation action plan. IUCN. 2000.

Shah N, Qureshi Q. Social organization and determinants of spatial distribution of Khur (Equus hemionus khur). Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia. Erforsch Biol Ress. Mongolei (Halle/Saale). 2007; 10:189–200.

Ripple WJ, Newsome TM, Wolf C, Dirzo R, Everatt KT, Galetti M, Hayward MW, Kerley GI, Levi T, Lindsey PA, Macdonald DW. Collapse of the world’s largest herbivores. Science Advances. 2015; 1(4):1400103. PMid: 26601172 PMCid: PMC4640652. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1400103

Schulz E, Kaiser TM. Historical distribution, habitat requirements and feeding ecology of the genus E quus (Perissodactyla). Mammal Review. 2013 Apr; 43(2):111–23. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2907.2012.00210.x

Ahrestani FS, Heitkonig IM, Matsubayashi H, Prins H.H. Grazing and browsing by large herbivores in South and Southeast Asia. In The Ecology of Large Herbivores in South and Southeast Asia. Springer, Dordrecht. 2016. p. 99–120. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7570-0_4

Crawley, MJ. Herbivory: The dynamics of animal-plant interactions. Blackwell: Osney Mead, Oxford;1983.

Kortland A. Vegetation research and the “bulldozer” herbivores in tropical Africa. Sutton, S., Whitmore T.C. and 252. 1984. p. 205–26.

Karanth KU, Sinquist ME. Population structure, density and biomass of large herbivores in tropical forests of Nagarhole of India. Journal of Tropical Ecology. 1992; 8:21–35. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266467400006040

Ali S. The wild ass of Kutch. J Bombay Nat Hist Soc. 1946; 46:472–7.

Gee EP. The Indian wild ass: A survey. J Bombay Nat Hist Soc 1963; 60:517–29.

Singh HS. Status of Indian wild ass (Equus hemionus khur) in the Little Rann of Kutch. Zoos Print Journal. 2000 May; 5:253–6. https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.ZPJ.15.5.253-6

Caughley G, Gunn A. Dynamics of large herbivores in deserts: Kangaroos and caribou. Oikos. 1993 May 1: 47–55. https://doi.org/10.2307/3545094

Illius AW, O’Connor TG. Resource heterogeneity and ungulate population dynamics. Oikos. 2000; 89:283–94. https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0706.2000.890209.x

Krishna YC, Kumar A, Isvaran K. Wild ungulate decision - Making and the role of tiny refuges in human-dominated landscapes. PloS one. 2016 Mar 17; 11(3). PMid: 26985668 PMCid: PMC4795686. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0151748

Droege S. The North American Breeding Bird Survey. Pages 1-4 in JR Sauer and S Droege, (eds.) Survey designs and statistical methods for the estimation of avian population trends. U.S. Fish Wildlife Service Biology Report. 1990; 90(1).

Pollock KH, Nichols JD, Simons TR, Farnsworth GL, Bailey LL, Sauer JR. Large scale wildlife monitoring studies: statistical methods for design and analysis. Environmetrics: The Official Journal of the International Environmetrics Society. 2002 Mar; 13(2):105–19. https://doi.org/10.1002/env.514

Buckland ST, Anderson AR, Burnham KP, Laake JL. Distance sampling: Estimating abundance of biological populations. Champion and Hall, London. 1993. p. 446. PMCid: PMC1676856. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1574-2

Fewster RM, Southwell C, Borchers DL, Buckland ST, Pople AR. The influence of animal mobility on the assumption of uniform distances in aerial line-transect surveys. Wildlife Research. 2008 Jun 27; 35(4):275–88. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR07077

Melville GJ, Tracey JP, Fleming PJ, Lukins BS. Aerial surveys of multiple species: Critical assumptions and sources of bias in distance and mark-recapture estimators. Wildlife Research. 2008 Jun 27; 35(4):310–48. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR07080

Skogland T. The effects of density-dependent resource limitations on the demography of wild reindeer. The Journal of Animal Ecology. 1985 Jun 1: 359-74. https://doi.org/10.2307/4484 24. Goyal SP, Sinha B, Shah N, Panwar HS. Sardar Sarovar Project - a conservation threat to the Indian wild ass (Equus hemionus khur). Biological Conservation. 1999; 88(2):277–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3207(98)00082-2

Zaker N, Ketchemen L, Lutscher F. The effect of movement behavior on population density in patchy landscapes. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology. 2020; 82(1):1–24. PMid: 31919597. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11538-019-00680-3

Shah N. Wild ass. Singh, HS, Patel, BH, Parvez R, Soni VC, Shah NV, Tatu K, Patel D. (eds.): Ecological study of wild ass sanctuary little rann of kutch. 1999.

Mahar N, Mungi NA, Sutirtha L. Beyond nationality: Opportunity for trans-boundary wildlife conservation. DIALOGUE: Science, Scientists and Society. 2021; 4. https://doi.org/10.29195/DSSS.03.01.0029

Prins HH. Competition between wildlife and livestock in Africa. In Wildlife conservation by sustainable use. Springer, Dordrecht. 2000. p. 51–80. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4012-6_5

Kaczensky P, Lkhagvasuren B, Pereladova O, Hemami M, Bouskila A. Equus hemionus ssp. khur. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-.RLTS.T7963A3144616.en

Johnsingh AJ, Manjrekar N. Mammals of South Asia, Volume II. University Press (India) Private Limited. 2015, Chapter 39, pp. 112-128.