Mountain monarchs. Wild sheep and goats of the Himalaya: By George B. Schaller. University of Chicago Press (1978). Price £17.50

Armed conflict throughout the world's biodiversity hotspots poses a critical threat to conservation efforts. To date, research and policy have focused more on the ultimate outcomes of conflict for wildlife rather than on the ecological, social, and economic processes that create those outcomes. Yet the militarization that accompanies armed conflict, as well as consequent changes in governance, economies, and human settlement, has diverse influences on wildlife populations and habitats. To better understand these complex dynamics, we summarized 144 case studies from around the world and identified 24 distinct pathways linking armed conflict to wildlife outcomes. The most commonly cited pathways reflect changes to institutional and socioeconomic factors, rather than tactical aspects of conflict. Marked differences in the most salient pathways emerge across geographic regions and wildlife taxa. Our review demonstrates that mitigating the negative effects of conflict on biodiversity conservation requires a nuanced understanding of the ways in which conflict affects wildlife populations and communities.

War and wildlife: linking armed conflict to conservation

Hunting: A serious and understudied threat in India, a globally significant conservation region

Little is known about the activity pattern and co-occurrence of mammalian species coexisting sympatrically in the rugged terrains of the Himalaya. By using camera traps we quantified diel activity patterns and temporal overlap as well as probabilistic model of spatial species co-occurrence amongst eight species. The jungle cat and the Indian porcupine tended to be strictly nocturnal whereas the leopard cat and the red fox were primarily nocturnal and crepuscular, yellow-throated marten was diurnal. The Asiatic black bear, leopard and the hangul showed no clear pattern. We found highest temporal overlap (Δ1 = 0.84, 95%CI = 0.54-0.86) between leopard and Asiatic black bear followed by pairs between red fox and leopard cat (Δ1 = 0.83, 95%CI = 0.72-0.91) and jungle cat (Δ1 = 0.82, 95%CI = 0.60-0.91). The lowest temporal overlap was found between yellow-throated marten and Indian porcupine (Δ = 0.11, 95%CI = 0.08-0.20). The results from probabilistic pairwise species co-occurrence analysis suggest that out of 28 possible species pairs 25 had random associations and one pair was unclassifiable. The remaining two species pairs had positive associations of co-occurrences between leopard cat and hangul (Pgt < 0.05) and Indian porcupine and hangul (Pgt < 0.05). Our results provided new insights into this unique community of mammals of the western Himalaya and will facilitate future studies on the mechanism determining coexistence of animal species within complex system.

https://bioone.org/journals/folia-zoologica/volume-66/issue-4/fozo.v66.i4.a4.2017/Activity-patterns-and-spatial-co-occurrence-of-sympatric-mammals-in/10.25225/fozo.v66.i4.a4.2017.pdf

Activity patterns and spatial co-occurrence of sympatric mammals in the moist temperate forest of the Kashmir Himalaya, India

Setting priorities for protected area planning in a conflict zone – Afghanistan’s National Protected Area System Plan

The flare horned markhor Capra falconeri occurs in northern Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Most of the species’ range is along volatile international borders and limited information is available, especially for the population of the Pir Panjal or Kashmir markhor C. f. falconeri in India. From October 2004 to April 2005 we therefore conducted the first range-wide survey of the species in India since independence. The markhor's range has shrunk from c. 300 km2 in the late 1940s to c. 120 km2 in 2004–2005. Our surveys and interviews with key local informants indicate that 350–375 markhor may yet exist in the region. All the populations are small (usually < 50) and fragmented. International conflicts, developmental projects, the needs of an increasing human population and poaching, along with lack of awareness, are the primary threats to the species. The largest population in India, in Kajinag, may have potential for long-term survival if immediate conservation measures can be implemented.

/pdf/endangered-markhor-capra-falconeri-in-india-through-war-and-2q6rz9awv8.pdf

Riyaz Ahmad

Papers

Endangered markhor Capra falconeri in India: through war and insurgency.