Tiger occurrence in response to prey and anthropogenic disturbances
Abstract
Understanding factors influencing spatiotemporal patterns of apex predators is pre-requisite for their conservation. We studied spatial and temporal responses of tigers (Panthera tigris) to prey availability and anthropogenic activities with remote cameras in Nepal during December 2022–March 2023. We used hierarchical occupancy models to evaluate biotic factors (detection rates of 6 prey species, number of humans or livestock) contributing to the tiger occupancy, while taking into account landscape effects on their detection probability. We calculated the diel activity overlap of tigers with each prey species, as well as humans and livestock. Overall, tigers had high occupancy (0.898 ± 0.074) and detection probability (0.621 ± 0.044). Tiger occupancy increased with prey availability but was not influenced by humans or livestock. Tiger detection probability increased with increasing distance to water, potentially a consequence of tigers being more cautious where human presence is likely. Tigers exhibited extensive temporal overlap with their prey, but not with humans or livestock. Our study demonstrates the ability of tigers to co-exist with humans through adjusting diel activity and potentially moving cryptically in certain landscapes, provided adequate prey is available. Management actions that ensure adequate prey availability can benefit tiger conservation.
README: Tiger occurrence in response to prey and anthropogenic disturbances
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.5tb2rbpbk
Description of the data and file structure
Provenance for this README
File name: Tiger.md Authors: Date created: 2024-01-23
Date modified: 2023-01-23
Dataset Version and Release History
Current Version: Number: 1.0.0 Date: 2023-01-23 Dataset identifier: Summary of changes: n/a
Dataset Attribution and Usage
Dataset Title: Tiger occurrence in response to prey and anthropogenic
disturbances
License: This work is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0)
Public Domain Dedication license.
Dates of data collection: December 2022-March 2023 * Geographic locations of data collection: Parsa, Bara, and Rautahat districts of Nepal
Files and variables
File: Tiger.csv
Description: File/Folder Details Description: a comma-delimited file containing information about tiger occurence in Parsa, Bara, and Rauthat districts, Nepal. The file is prepared for analysis in R program but can be reformated for the use in other statistical software.
* Format(s): .csv
* Data name: "Tiger.csv"
* Data structure: 94rows*14columns
This is a dataset contains information about the tiger detection in three districts of Madhesh Province, Nepal. The dataset contains information on 94 camera trap stations for the number of detected week across total weeks surveyed (three) for tiger and its preys. The dataset also consists information on multiple variables for each camera trap station. The dataset can be analysed using hierarchical occupancy modelling using R program and Just Another Gibbs Sampler (JAGS).
Variables
- Variables: Way Point : Unique identifier for each camera trap location.
cc : Canopy cover (%) of each camera trap site. Canopy cover is an average of centre and four corners of 10*10m plot centering the trap station.
Human : Number of humans detected by each camera trap.
Livestock : Number of livestock detected by each camera trap.
Road : Distance to road (in meters) from each camera trap station.
Water : Distance to permanent water source (in meters) from each camera trap station.
Building : Distance to settlement (in meters) from each camera trap station.
Tiger : Number of weeks tiger was detected across total weeks sampled. In total sampling was done for three weeks.
Barkingdeer : Number of weeks Barking deer was detected across total weeks sampled.
Bluebull : Number of weeks Blue bull was detected across total weeks sampled.
Chital : Number of weeks Chital (Spotted deer) was detected across total weeks sampled.
Gaur : Number of weeks Gaur was detected across total weeks sampled.
Sambar : Number of weeks Sambar deer was detected across total weeks sampled.
Wildboar : Number of weeks Wild boar was detected across total weeks sampled.