BACKGROUND
Across the globe, large carnivores are considered as the most charismatic yet vulnerable components of wild ecosystems (Miquelle et al., 2005). Positioned at the top of food chains, they influence all trophic levels thereby shaping entire ecosystems (Ripple et al., 2014). However, throughout their distributional range, large carnivore populations continue to decline rapidly due to anthropogenic pressures like habitat degradation and fragmentation, persecution, illicit commercial trade in body parts, depletion of wild prey and diseases (Weber & Rabinowitz, 1996).
Owing to their wide range requirements, large carnivores inherently occur at low densities across their distribution (Woodroffe & Ginsberg, 1998). However, the idyllic contiguous landscapes required for the long-term conservation of such species are being increasingly compromised due to competition with humans over space. In order to survive, large terrestrial predators must negotiate human-modified landscapes adjoining Protected Areas (PAs) which are under various land use types. Such peculiar scenarios may lead to perceived or potential human- wildlife conflict posing a risk to their existence. Consequently, large carnivore conservation has become the prime focus of various stakeholders like biologists, politicians, activists, nature enthusiasts, funding agencies and lately with increasing awareness, the common man (Weber & Rabinowitz, 1996; Linnell, Swenson, & Anderson 2001; Treves, 2009).
India is home to the highest number of large terrestrial carnivores (average body weight >15kgs) in the world. The twelve species include Royal Bengal tiger Panthera tigris tigris , Asiatic lion Panthera leo persiica , leopard Panthera pardus , snow leopard Panthera uncia , clouded leopardNeofelis nebulosa , Indian wolf Canis lupus , Asiatic wild dog Cuon alpinus , striped hyena Hyeana hyeana , Himalayan brown bear Ursus arctos isabellinus , Asiatic black bearUrsus thibetanus , sloth bear Melursus ursinus and sun bearHelarctos malayanus . Of the total 12 species, 8 are either in the Endangered or the Vulnerable category of the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species and all are categorized under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, of India, 1972. India also ranks 2ndin world human population with 1.3 billion people and a density of 450 people per sq. km (UN World Population Report, 2017). Based on the World Bank Report (2015) 60.4% of the total land in India is under agriculture resulting in a habitat matrix of human agricultural landscapes interspersed with PAs pitching humans in direct competition with wildlife over limited resources, particularly, space. India is also home to 25% of world’s cattle and holds the highest number of the world’s livestock (19th All India Livestock Census, 2012). In conjunction with agriculture, spread over 5.6 million km, the Indian road network is the second largest in the world with the highest global density of 1.70 km roads per square kilometre of land (Basic Road Statistics of India, 2016). The aggressively developing nation aspires to achieve 8% economic growth from 2017–2022 (Niti AAYOG, 2017-2020).
In this setting, survival of large carnivores in India depends on their ability to adapt to the human-modified environment. The movement parameters of species evolve in response to the dynamic structure of a landscape (Fahrig, 2007). The rapid rate at which landscapes are changing may compel wide ranging terrestrial mammals to adapt and change their movement patterns for long term survival. The PAs and Reserves in India are small, isolated with compromised functional connectivity (Chundawat, Sharma, Gogate, Malik, & Vanak 2016; Mondal, Habib, Talukdar, & Nigam 2016) and wide-ranging large carnivores need to move through areas with varying degrees of human activity to maintain healthy populations. However, they may be reluctant to cross certain habitat boundaries (Haddad, 1999). The study of movement parameters of such species is imperative to gain insights into fundamental biological processes like dispersal strategies, foraging, social interactions, and general patterns of space use which play a major role in determining community and population structures (Nathan et al., 2008). Such a study on large carnivores across heterogenous landscapes with fragmented metapopulations in the form of PAs interspersed within an agriculture matrix crisscrossed by linear infrastructure such as roads, railway network, canals and transmission lines is crucial for conservation planning and developing management strategies (Dickson, Jenness, & Beier 2005).
In this paper, we present the first study of movement patterns and space use of 4 large carnivores across diverse landscapes in India. We analyze movement data of tiger, leopard, dhole and wolf from the Central Indian landscape. First, we describe the attributes of movement trajectories and compare the movement pattern of these 4 large carnivores. We then examine the effect of land use, human density and road density as surrogates of human footprint on the movement of these wide-ranging, terrestrial carnivores. There have been general assumptions of space use of large predators but statistically robust data on movement of these predators both inside and outside PAs is absent. We test these assumptions and hypothesis across species and habitats with an aim to quantify a movement.