Jonathan C. Hall ¹, Anil K. Chhangani ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Geography, West Virginia University, 330 Brooks Hall, 98 Beechurst Ave., Morgantown, West Virginia, 26506, US
2 Department of Environmental Studies, Maharaja Ganga Singh University, Academic Block, N.H. 15, Jaisalmer Road, Bikaner-334004, Rajasthan, IN

Abstract

An investigation was carried out regarding the role of the Bishnoi people's protection blackbuck antelope for conservation of this threatened species by testing the prediction that villages with Bishnoi have more blackbuck than villages without Bishnoi. There was significantly more blackbuck in villages with Bishnoi despite no significant difference in available habitat or human population between village classes. It was estimated that blackbuck occupied approximately one-third of total habitat and had high overall persistence over a four year period. This study provides evidence that Bishnoi lands can be important for blackbuck conservation and, more broadly, evidence that cultural traditions are important for conservation in human-dominated landscapes.

Keywords

Bishnoi community, Blackbuck, Conservation, Human-Dominated landscapes, Rajasthan.

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Jonathan C. Hall ¹, Anil Kumar Chhangani ², Timothy A. Warner ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Geography, West Virginia University, Brooks Hall, 98 Beechurst Ave., Morgantown, WV 26506, US
2 Department of Environmental Studies, Maharaja Ganga Singh University, Academic Block, N.H. 15, Jaisalmer Road, Bikaner-334004, Rajasthan, IN

Abstract

Vultures in India have experienced catastrophic declines over the past fifteen years. The cause of declines is well studied, but fundamental knowledge of vulture ecology within the context of India's human-dominated landscape is lacking. Here we report on landscape-level habitat associations of 54 nests of Indian vultures (Gyps indicus) across Rajasthan, India. Our data show that on average, vulture nests were 4.4 km from a water source (range: 0 -25km) and 1.3 km from human settlement (range: 0 -11km). The majority of Indian vulture nest sites we observed were in trees, an apparently atypical nest substrate for this species. Drivers of Indian vulture nest site selection are currently unknown yet understanding them is likely key for the success of vulture conservation, particularly the reintroduction of captive bred populations. This study provides the first observational data on Indian vulture nest sites from which causal hypotheses can be generated and tested.

Keywords

Indian Vulture, Human-Dominated Landscape, Rajasthan, Spatial Characteristics, Nest Site.

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