Figure 1. Map showing Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve and Navegaon
NagziraTiger Reserve in Eastern Vidarbha Landscape. Inset showing study
area location in the map of India.
2.2 .) Field and Analytical method: Dhole pack size
variation across study sites
In field studies individual identification of dholes is challenging
because of their uniform pelage pattern (Modi, Habib, Ghaskadbi, Nigam,
& Mondol, 2019), therefore we adhered to pack identification on the
basis of activity centres (Stansbury et al., 2014). We surveyed study
sites through camera trapping and identified activity centres on the
basis of pack’s activity hotspots and concentrated indirect signs. The
understnading of movement patterns from telemetry study at our study
sites suggests that the core home range/ activity centres for dhole pack
ranges from 1 km2 to 11 km2 i.e. the
area exclusive to a pack’s territory (Ghaskadbi et al.
Unpublished).. Therefore, based on our observations of
activity hotspots, sightings of packs were only recorded at their
activity hotspots. The sightings at overlapping pack boundaries were not
included to avoided confusion between the packs.