Abstract: The leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis has a widespread distribution across Asia. We describe two recent photographic records of leopard cats from the northern Western Ghats in India. One individual was sighted and a video documented in Mahabaleshwar at 23:00 h on 19 February 2014, and two individuals were photographed in Dajipur, Radhanagari Wildlife Sanctuary at 20:49 h on 21 March 2014. These are likely to be the first photographic records from these areas in the northern Western Ghats. They are important from a conservation stand-point as the Western Ghats leopard cat population may be isolated from the rest of its range. Link to journal web-page : http://www.catsg.org/index.php?id=611
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Precariously Striped: The importance of corridors for tigers in Maharashtra’s Sahyadri-Konkan region
Very little is known about tiger density or occupancy in the Western Ghats region of Maharashtra, even though a tiger reserve (Sahyadri TR) was notified recently (2010) in the landscape. With support from two CEPF-ATREE* Small Grants, we have now understood the occupancy of tigers in a 7000 km2 landscape stretching from Sahyadri Tiger Reserve up to the border of Goa and Karnataka states. Using robust tools for occupancy and corridor modelling, areas which have high occupancy of tigers, as well as areas that are important pinch-points in the corridor have been identified. Key findings from these two projects reveal that tiger occupancy is much higher in the Radhanagri Wildlife Sanctuary and Tillari dam catchment and that the corridor connecting these regions to Sahyadri Tiger Reserve is crucial for tiger dispersal. Important threats that can break this corridor include newly proposed wind farms, mining, dam projects, hill stations, and highways. This report was published by Girish Arjun Punjabi, Advait Edgaonkar and Jayant Kulkarni. Link to newsletter |
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August 2017
The Sahyadri corridor projectThis blog is about activities from the Sahyadri corridor project. The blog aims to share our experiences, hopes, achievements, and frustrations while trying to thoughtfully conserve the northern Sahyadris. Do share your comments.. Categories |