Assessing Anthropogenic Accidental Wildlife Mortality in Central India

Sarkar, Diptesh (2022) Assessing Anthropogenic Accidental Wildlife Mortality in Central India. Masters thesis, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata.

Text (MS dissertation of Diptesh Sarkar (17MS083)) 17MS083_Thesis_file.pdf - Submitted Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (23MB)

Abstract

Wildlife mortality due to human activities is an important concern for wildlife conservation. Anthropogenic factors may negatively affect wild animals due to the degradation of natural habitats or may directly lead to mortality. In this study, I tried to investigate the effects of the various environmental and anthropogenic factors that influence the risk of wildlife mortality in a region. This study aims to find the important factors that influence wildlife mortality due to the transport network (roads and railways), non-linear infrastructure (wells, fences, and electrocution), and stray dogs, and predict the highrisk areas. This study is based in the state of Madhya Pradesh. For this investigation, I used the wildlife mortality data obtained from the state forest department in combining with remotely sensed data on the various landscape features (both environmental and anthropogenic) to find the most significant factors affecting wildlife mortality and map the high-risk areas. I also undertook field surveys to map out the local risk elements that may directly threaten wild animals or indirectly influence wildlife mortality. The results suggest that areas at the village-forest boundary are the most vulnerable. We cheek some specific predictors layers for every mortality cases.The distance to protected area is played very significant factor and distance to water sources was not found to be a significant factor in influencing wildlife mortality risk. My study can help land-use planners and forest managers in conservation planning and devise mitigation measures for minimizing wildlife mortality due to anthropogenic causes.

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