Aim: Interspecific competition plays a key role in shaping carnivore communities. Top-down effects can impact the coexistence of superordinate and subordinate competitors and prey across a shared landscape. Limited resources, their abundance and diminishing habitats can all exacerbate interspecific competition. Sometimes, behavioural mechanisms or adaptations are critical for subordinate carnivores to coexist with larger species. Here, we investigated the distribution pattern of the striped hyaena (Hyaena hyaena) population with respect to habitat features, sympatric carnivores and their prey species across a large landscape.Location: Western and Eastern Ghats, India.Taxon: Striped hyaena.Methods: We collected presence-absence data for hyaenas, tigers, leopards, dholes and their prey using camera-trapping and indirect sign surveys. Using a random forest algorithm, we modelled the local distribution of hyaenas as a function of important ecological variables, including climate, domestic prey abundance and the predicted probabilities of occurrence of other large carnivores and their prey.Results: We found that striped hyaenas were confined to relatively small, discrete areas compared to the three other predators, likely a mechanism for achieving coexistence in the landscape. Our empirical results suggested that hyaenas tend to avoid high occurrence probability areas of their co-predators at a landscape level but foothold opportunities such as, arid climatic conditions, and prey abundance primarily determined spatial incumbency. Coexistence in an area with low to medium relative abundance of co-predators offsets the interplay between carcass acquisition and risk associated. The coexistence of species was favoured by altitudinal heterogeneity probably providing denning refugia and also by their preference towards suboptimal thorn forests that sustain a low density of co-predators.Main Conclusions: Our study showed a desisting impact of large predators on the distribution of the striped hyaena population. Furthermore, we suggest preventing habitat alteration in suboptimal habitats of large carnivores to facilitate coexistence in a shared landscape.

Resource availability, predator-prey interaction, anthropogenic disturbances, climatic and topographic factors often determine the ecological association of a species with its environment. We measured the ecological association of Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus), and grey junglefowl (Gallus sonneratii), with predator, habitat, and human disturbance using camera traps, following an occupancy modelling framework at the Male Mahadeshwara Hills Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnataka. We collected single-season data from 172 camera trap stations during 30 days. Site occupancy for junglefowl was found to be 0.40 ± 0.08, whereas for peafowl it was 0.31 ± 0.06. The detection probability for junglefowl was 0.06 ± 0.006, and for peafowl, it was 0.08 ± 0.007. Junglefowl occupancy was negatively associated with tiger (Panthera tigris) abundance because of the difference in the habitat preferences. Contrastingly, relative abundance of leopard (Panthera pardus) and jungle cat (Felis chaus) positively influenced the occupancy of pheasants due to similar habitat preferences and predator-prey interactions. Elevation and tree density were positively associated to Junglefowl occupancy due to the availability of good foliage and climatic conditions. However, occupancy probability of peafowl and detection probability showed negative relationship with tree density and goat-sheep abundance respectively. This indicates that peafowls rely on the undergrowth in open forests, scrub jungles, and cultivation areas, and require understory vegetation for nesting, roosting, and feeding. Our study helps to fill the knowledge gap to understand the ecological interaction of less studied ground-dwelling birds.

Glucocorticoid levels (GCs) are an important parameter that infers the pathological condition of an organism. GCs can vary with life history stages like gender, age, and reproductive stage and signify the degree of allostatic load experienced. Deleterious increases in GCs can severely affect the wildlife population by suppressing the reproductive viability of individuals and may cause immunosuppressive, making the population more susceptible to parasitic load. We have studied the stress physiology and parasitic load across the life history stages in the striped hyaena population confined to the Moyar Valley of Mudumalai and Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserves. The fecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations were measured using cortisol enzyme immunoassay from 30 scats. Collected scats were categorized into adults, sub-adults, and juvenile age groups based on the size and colour of droppings. Sex of the scat samples was identified post-DNA extraction from their epithelial lining cells. Parasitic load from scats was quantified as the number of different parasites recorded through sucrose floatation and sedimentation techniques. We found no significant difference in GCs concentration and parasitic load across the life history stages, but juveniles were recorded to have the least parasitic load. The highest GCs concentration and parasitic load were recorded from adults and female individuals, while both parameters were found least among juvenile individuals. Though we did not observe any significant differences across life-history stages, this study provides the first baseline information on stress physiology and parasitic load in striped hyaenas, which could help further studies assess the impact of external perturbations on stress physiology.

Habitat loss limits the dispersal of wide-ranging large mammals. It is pivotal to study the ecological and anthropogenic factors driving the habitat occupancy of large mammals for their long-term conservation and reduction of negative human–wildlife interactions. To evaluate how the habitat occupancy pattern of the large mammals varies across a gradient of anthropogenic pressures. We conducted ecological sign surveys across nine forest divisions including, Protected Areas (PAs) and outside PAs, along the Western and Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India. We used systematic grid-based Markovian occupancy model to study the effect of ecological and anthropogenic variables (prey abundance, habitat features, direct human disturbance and habitat fragmentation) on tiger (Panthera tigris), leopard (Panthera pardus), dhole (Cuon alpinus), elephant (Elephas maximus) and gaur (Bos gaurus) occupancy at 100 km2 scale. Tiger and dhole occupancy was driven by the abundance of large and medium-sized prey. However, leopards also relied on the available small prey species and utilised fragmented forest patches. Large mammal occupancy increased in contiguous forests with water availability and decreased in landscapes with increased human disturbances and habitat fragmentation. Tiger occupancy was highly confined towards contiguous PA network while the rest of them had scattered but concentrated occupancy towards PAs. The dependency of large mammals on contiguous forests suggests improving the quality and connectivity of forested habitats for their dispersal and reducing negative human–wildlife interactions. The low occupancy areas require urgent habitat management intervention to reduce grazing pressure and restore degraded habitats to sustain viable large mammal population at landscape-level.

The expanding population of wild pig ( Sus scrofa ) and the associated economic loss has been a challenge for the government and conservation biologists, for over a decade globally. Unlike the majority of other wildlife, rising anthropogenic pressure offered wild pigs a suitable environment to expand their population. Accordingly, the circumstances for social conflict also increased at human–wildlife interface areas. Understanding the regional ecological landscape factors driving the human–wild pig conflict (HWPC) is vital for developing efficient strategies for HWPC management. We analyzed the important spatial and ecological factors determining HWPC across the Eastern and Western Ghats region of Tamil Nadu, India through semi-structured interviews of local communities. Fifty seven percent (n = 825) of the villagers surveyed (n = 1460) reported frequent wild pig conflict, principally in the form of crop damage (n = 819), especially in areas adjoining the forest boundary. Our study indicated that the probability of HWPC was positively correlated to the diversity of major and minor crops grown, percent crop cover and distance to the nearest water body, and negatively correlated to the degree of slope of the landscape and average annual rainfall. We identified 6729 km 2 of the total sampled area (22,525 km 2 ) of high HWPC. Our HWPC hotspot map provides a concise view of the conflict pattern across the larger landscapes that can help the authorities prioritize areas and concentrate the conflict mitigation measures towards areas that require immediate attention.

The den is a multi-purpose critical space of carnivores and provides a growth conducive refuge which ensures both substances and protection from interspecific predation and harsh climate. Selection of optimal den sites determined by various site-specific factors potentially reduces aversive interspecific interactions and provides cost-effective access to food sources. In this study, we have assessed the factors determining the den site selection by a small population of striped hyaena, Hyaena hyaena in a shared landscape dominated by large carnivores. We assessed den site selection as a function of vegetation patch characteristics, site-specific anthropogenic threats/activities and topographical variables using Bayesian algorithm through field collected binomial data on den use by the species. Our model suggested that hyaenas select rocky refugia surrounded by trees and tall grasses, situated on mountain slopes proximate to a water body. Our study consolidated the importance of undulating terrain in the species ecology and postulated the slope as an ‘energy-expensive’ terrain that refrains frequent movement of other carnivores, in turn providing more affordable denning space for the striped hyaena. This study provides critical information on denning ecology of last remaining major breeding population striped hyaena of southern India.

The global effort to protect megaherbivore populations is largely dependent on how human-wildlife conflict is identified, prioritized, and remedied. We examined the socio-ecological and landscape-scale factors determining spatial patterns of human-megaherbivore (Asian elephant Elephas maximus and gaur Bos gaurus) interactions across sixteen Forest Divisions in Tamil Nadu, India. Using a systematic grid-based design, we conducted questionnaire-based surveys of 1460 households at the human-wildlife interface adjacent to Protected Areas, Reserve Forest and Fringe Areas. We specifically collected information on elephant and gaur conflict incidents (e.g., human death/injuries, property damage, and crop-raiding), cropland type, extent of crop area and area lost to crop-raiding, from each household. We found that human-elephant conflict increased with percentage of crop cover, diversity of major and minor crops grown, proximity to water source, flat terrain, and lower rates of precipitation. Human-gaur conflict was greatest with a high diversity of major crops, proximity to water source, moderate precipitation, and more undulating terrain. We identified ca. 7900 km2 hotspot area of contiguous high-intensity elephant conflict. For gaur, we identified high-frequency conflict hotspot areas covering ca. 625 km2, which were patchily distributed, highly localised, and attributed mostly to the recent changing land-use patterns. Our findings will help policymakers and park managers in developing landscape-scale human-wildlife conflict mitigation plans in the identified conflict hotspots.

Fear-induced generalization of threats to noninimical stimuli is a behavioral tendency of humans to minimize exposure to potential threats. In human-carnivore conflict zones, people often generalize their fear of predation by obligate carnivores to nonobligate carnivores despite differences in species' predation rates. We investigated the effect of a perceived threat of large obligate carnivores to livestock on tolerance and perception of striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) in an area of high human-carnivore conflict. We surveyed 197 households through asemistructured questionnaire to determine people's perception and tolerance of striped hyenas in Sathyamangalam and Mudumalai Tiger Reserves after identification of the current distribution range of hyena determined through camera trap and sign surveys. Through the random forest algorithm, we modeled the level of tolerance of striped hyena as a function of loss of livestock to predation and from disease, the perceived threat of predation by hyena, and other socioeconomic attributes. Animal husbandry was a major source of income but was severely affected by livestock loss due to predation and disease. Sixty-nine percent of people were uncertain about predatory behavior of hyena; out of that, 23% reported a negative conservation attitude. Only 6 instances of hyena depredation on livestock and 2 on dogs were reported. Our model confirmed that economic instability associated with increased loss to predation and disease, livestock dependency, and a decrease in family annual income negatively affected people's tolerance of hyena. Perceptual uncertainty related to predatory behavior of hyena also negatively affected people's tolerance. In our study area, economic instability and perceptual uncertainty led to generalization of fear of large carnivores to a nonobligate predator. Such generalization may affect the attitude of people toward many other species. Understanding the role of economic instability and perceptual uncertainty should facilitate conservation of species, such as the hyena, that are vulnerable to false generalization.

Large scale spatial patterns of livestock predation risk from multiple co-predators are fundamental to applied conservation planning. Here, we examined important ecological, social, and landscape attributes explaining spatial patterns of human-carnivore interactions. We used a systematic grid-based framework, across an area of 14,200 km2 of sixteen Forest Divisions at the human-wildlife interface encompassing Protected Areas, Reserved Forest and Fringe Areas at the human-wildlife interface in the Eastern and Western Ghats, India. The data was collected on livestock depredation incidents from the tiger (Panthera tigris), leopard (Panthera pardus), and dhole (Cuon alpinus) for the past five years, through semi-structured interviews (n = 1460) of local communities. We examined socio-ecological (i.e. livestock abundance and forest dependency) and landscape attributes (i.e. forest cover, climates and topographic) influencing the depredation events from each carnivore species. We found that livestock predation risk by the tiger, leopard and dhole was driven by the size of livestock species, the dependency of local people on the forest, topography, proximity to water body and the forest boundary, precipitation, and forest cover. Risk of predation from leopard and dhole exhibited high spatial overlap, and predation by leopards was higher than dhole and tiger. Livestock predation by leopard and dhole was frequent in open areas of Reserved Forest and buffer zones, while that from tiger occurred in densely forested core regions of Protected Areas (PAs). Our predictive risk maps (ca. 22,525 km2) showed species-specific predation patterns, reflected ecological differences among large carnivores with regards to their habitat and spatial partitioning for domestic prey. Our predictive predation risk map and factors associated with livestock predations provides powerful visual guidance and tools for PA managers in developing multi-species conflict mitigation strategies. We recommend diversifying local economic livelihoods and benefit-sharing options for local communities to minimize their forest dependency.