Prachi Thatte PhD student, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, India
With fertile soil and agreeable climate, this ecosystem provides favorable conditions for agriculture and human settlement. Clearing of land for agriculture has resulted in extensive deforestation of this ecosystem over years. Human activities are considered the largest threat to this ecosystem. Panna and Sariska, where tigers recently went extinct and were re-introduced, are both tropical dry forests. Poaching was established as the main reason behind the extinctions.
Prachi Thatte PhD student, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, India Bilaspur is an agriculture dominated district in the north western part of the state of Chhattisgarh. It is known for the aromatic Dubraj variety of rice. Nearly 65% of the land area of Bilaspur is under agriculture. What remains is covered by villages and towns, industries and fragments of forests. The forest fragments are mainly found on hillocks and around boulders. Inspite of the patchy distribution of forests, sloth bears thrive in this landscape.
Examining fecal samples (scat) is a common technique used in research to understand feeding habits of wild animals. Remains of food found in the scat are identified using reference collections of potential food samples. For example, the feces of animals that eat fruits often contain seeds of the fruits. A reference collection of seeds is used in that case to identify what fruits the animal has eaten. For carnivores, the hair and bones in the diet are used to identify the prey species.
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May 2023
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