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Understanding the mechanism of coexistence, where carnivores adapt to humans and vice versa in the shared landscape, is a key determinant of long-term carnivore conservation but is yet to be comprehensively examined. We explored the coexistence mechanism of striped hyena ( Hyaena hyaena) and humans in the shared landscape of Sawai Mansingh Wildlife Sanctuary (SMS WLS), Rajasthan, from November 2019 to March 2021. We used data derived from motion sensors-based surveys, satellite remote sensing images, and household questionnaires to understand socio-ecological, environmental and anthropogenic factors facilitating hyena persistence in the shared landscape. The high density (12 individuals/100 km 2 ) striped hyena in the landscape revealed the coexistence with humans. Being scavengers, they get subsidised food sources and are perceived as low-risk species by humans. Striped hyena minimised temporal activity during the daytime when human activity peaked. However, the highest activity overlap was observed in the agricultural area (Δ1 = 0.39), and likely depicts the high activity due to agricultural practices. While the human settlement was positively associated with the detection of hyenas, the probability of striped hyena captures increased with decreasing distance from human settlement, possibly influenced by high carcass availability, providing the easiest food resources to striped hyena, and allowing them to coexist with humans. This study demonstrates the coexistence of hyenas and humans in the shared landscape supported by mutual benefits, where hyenas benefit from anthropogenic food from scavenging, while humans benefit from waste removal and the non-lethal nature hyenas.

Diurnal raptors show a wider distribution compared to other groups of birds including passerines, woodpeckers, and seriemas, but occur at lower-than-expected densities. Estimating the precise abundance is essential to achieve conservation goals but the methods used to estimate the populations of birds need to be appropriate to arrive at meaningful conclusions. We compared the two survey methods: roadside point count and strip transects, for estimating species richness and abundance of raptors in the arid landscape of Rajasthan. Roadside point counts and roadside strip transects were done on 50 transects between December 2019- February 2020 (with an average length of 20 km and a total distance of 3000 km) to assess the species richness and abundance of raptors. A total of 2954 observations of raptors belonging to 35 species were recorded using both methods. Mann Whitney U test result showed no significant difference in species richness and abundance estimates between both methods (p = 0.206). The point count method yielded a higher relative abundance of 2.79 individuals [10 km 2 ] -1 h -1 than the 1.90 individuals [10 km 2 ] -1 h -1 obtained during the strip transect. Also, the number of unidentified species were less for point counts. Extrapolation values indicated that both the methods do not differ much for the detection of unsampled species. The choice of survey method depends on the objectives of the study, but our results favor the use of point counts rather than strip transects to survey raptors in open habitats. The information generated from this study is expected to provide the most efficient method to study the abundance and distribution of raptors in similar landscapes.

Community attitudes towards large carnivores are of central importance to their conservation in human-dominated landscapes. In this study, we evaluate community attitudes and perceptions towards the Amur tiger ( Panthera tigris altaica ), Amur leopard ( Panthera pardus orientalis ) and bears ( Ursus thibetanus and Ursus arctos ), as well as their prey species, namely sika deer ( Cervus nippon ), roe deer and wild boar ( Sus scrofa ), in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, Jilin province, northeast China. We surveyed 139 households and found that community members’ perceptions of large carnivores and their prey species were influenced by their predominant economic activities; their prior interactions with wildlife; their household income level; and whether they were either long-term residents of Yanbian or had migrated to the region from elsewhere in China. We recorded fairly neutral attitudes towards large carnivores among the communities we surveyed, but strongly negative attitudes were shown towards wild boar, particularly where respondents had lost agricultural products to crop raiding by wild boar. We recommend conservation stakeholders in northeast China utilise this finding to encourage support for large carnivore recovery and conservation by targeting messaging around the importance of the tiger as a key predator of wild boar in the ecosystem. Furthermore, our findings suggest that government provided compensation paid for cattle lost to large carnivore predation (notably, by tigers) may be helping to reduce animosity from cattle owners towards large carnivores. However, we also highlight that compensation for loss of livestock is therefore performing a useful role in mitigating human-wildlife conflict, that there are potentially unintended consequences of the current compensation program, for example it fails to dissuade livestock grazing in protected areas.

Farmers are the most important stakeholders in wildlife conservation in the agricultural landscape. Understanding the farmer’s perceptions, attitude, behaviour, and knowledge toward conservation is critical in developing an effective conservation programme in human-dominated landscapes. We conducted semi-structured face-to-face interviews with 373 farmers to understand the farmer’s perception of ecosystem services provided by diurnal raptors in the arid region of Rajasthan from July 2020 to February 2021 and from August 2021 to January 2022. We grouped ecosystem services and disservices into larger categories and estimated the correlation between them, finding that disservices are negatively correlated with benefits. Raptors were perceived as beneficial for their role in controlling rodents and pests, but negatively for poultry predation. In addition, we built a binomial generalised linear model with a logit function to better understand the factors that influence farmers’ perceptions of raptors (positive or negative). We observed that males and females have different attitudes toward the ecosystem services provided by raptors. It is critical to understand social perceptions in order to conserve species that are rare on a global scale but may face negative perceptions on a local scale. Our study connects ecological information with socio-demographic factors, which can be useful in developing policy measures for raptor conservation.

Southwest Primorye hosts approximately 9% of the remaining wild Amur tiger population and represents hope for the revival of tigers in Northeast China and the Korean peninsula. Decades of conservation efforts have led to a significant increase in population size, from less than 10 individuals surviving in the region in 1996 to multiple folds today. However, while the population size has recovered since the mid-1900s, the effects of genetic depletion on evolutionary potential are not easily reversed. In this study, a non-invasive genetic analysis of the Amur tiger subpopulation in Southwest Primorye was conducted using microsatellite loci and mitochondrial genes to estimate genetic diversity, relatedness, and determine the impact of historical demographic dynamics. A total of 32 individuals (16 males, 15 females, and 1 unidentified sex) were identified, and signs of bottlenecks were detected, reflecting past demographic events. Low genetic variation observed in mitochondrial DNA also revealed genetic depletion within the population. Most individuals were found to be closely related to each other, raising concerns about inbreeding given the small population size and somewhat isolated environment from the main population in Sikhote-Alin. These findings emphasize the urgent need to establish ecological corridors to neighboring areas to restore genetic diversity and ensure the conservation of the Amur tiger population in Southwest Primorye.

Global changes may direct species expansion away from their current range. When such an expansion occurs, and the species colonizes a new region, it is important to monitor the habitat used by the species and utilize the information to updated management strategies. Water deer ( Hydropotes inermis ) is listed as Vulnerable species in IUCN Red List and is restricted to east central China and the Korean Peninsula. Since 2017, water deer has expanded its range towards northeast China and the Russian Far East. The objective of our study is to provide support for a better understanding of habitat use and provide suggestions for developing conservation strategy. We collected occurrence data in northeast China and the Russian Far East during 2017–2021. We used MaxEnt to predict habitat suitability for water deer and applied Circuitscape to determine possible dispersal routes for the species. We used seven environmental variables, viz., altitude, slope, aspect, distance to built-up area, distance to water source, distance to cropland and distance to roads for habitat suitability prediction. We chose the MaxEnt model (AICc = 2572.86) suitable for our data with the AUC value result of 0.935±0.014. There is good quality habitat for water deer in the boundary area of the Yalu and Tumen River estuaries between China, North Korea, and the Russian Far East, as well as the east and west regions of the Korean Peninsula. We identified three main suitable habitat patches, two of them located in east (NK2) and west (NK3) North Korea, and one in the newly colonized area downstream of the Tumen River along the border of China, Russia, and North Korea (TM1). Elevation, distance to cropland and water sources, and presence of wetlands were the variables that positively contributed to modelling the suitable habitats. Two possible dispersal routes were determined using the circuit theory, one was across the area from North Korea to the downstream Tumen transboundary region (Route B), and the other was across North Korea to the boundary region in China and along the tiger national park in northern China (Route A). A series of protected areas in North Korea, China, and Russia may support the dispersal of water deer. From the study on water deer dispersal, we can understand the existing ecological network in northeast Asia, which will benefit the whole landscape and biodiversity conservation. However, there are many threats present, and there is need for continued monitoring inside and outside the protected areas. Information sharing with stakeholders and carrying out local communities awareness activities are important. The establishment of a Northeast Asia landscape conservation network would help establish monitoring and conservation planning at a broad scale, and this study provides an example of the need for such a network.

Small populations of the endangered species are more vulnerable to extinction and hence require periodic genetic monitoring to establish and revisit the conservation strategies. The Amur leopard is critically endangered with about 100 individuals in the wild. In this study, we developed a simple and cost-effective noninvasive genetic monitoring protocol for Amur leopards. Also, we investigated the impact of fecal sample’s age, storage, and collection season on microsatellite genotyping success and data quality. We identified 89 leopard scats out of the 342 fecal samples collected from Land of the Leopard between 2014–2019. Microsatellite genotyping using 12 markers optimized in 3 multiplex PCR reactions reveals presence of at least 24 leopard individuals (18 males and 6 females). There was a significant difference in the success rate of genotyping depending on the time from feces deposition to collection ( p = 0.014, Fisher’s exact test), with better genotyping success for samples having <2 weeks of environmental exposure. Amur leopard genetic diversity was found low (H o − 0.33, H E − 0.35, and N A − 2.57) with no visible population substructure and recent bottleneck signature. Although a historical bottleneck footprint was observed. Mitochondrial DNA diversity was also found low with two haplotypes differing by a point mutation reported in 1,769 bp of investigated sequence covering parts of cytochrome b gene (846 bp), NADH-5 gene (611 bp) and control region (312 bp). We recommend periodic genetic monitoring of wild Amur leopards following the proposed methodology to achieve cost effectiveness and efficiency.

The zoos manage small populations of endangered big cat species like tiger, lion, and leopard for display, research, and conservation breeding. Genetic management of these populations is essential to ensure long term survival and conservation utility. Here we propose a simple and cost effective microsatellite based protocol for the genetic management of captive big cats. We sampled 36 big cat individuals from Seoul Grand Park Zoo (Republic of Korea) and amplified 33 published microsatellite loci. Overall, allelic richness and gene diversity was found highest for leopards, followed by lions and tigers. Twelve of the thirty-three markers showed a high degree of polymorphism across all target species. These microsatellites provide a high degree of discrimination for tiger (1.45 × 10 −8 ), lion (1.54 × 10 −10 ), and leopard (1.88 × 10 −12 ) and thus can be adopted for the genetic characterization of big cats in accredited zoos globally. During captive breeding, zoo authorities rely on pedigree records maintained in studbooks to ensure mating of genetically fit unrelated individuals. Several studies have reported errors in studbook records of big cat species. Microsatellites are simple and cost effective tool for DNA fingerprinting, estimation of genetic diversity, and paternity assessment. Our unified microsatellite panel (12-plex) for big cats is efficient and can easily be adopted by zoo authorities for regular population management.

Big cats (Genus: Panthera ) are among the most threatened mammal groups of the world, owing to hunting, habitat loss, and illegal transnational trade. Conservation genetic studies and effective curbs on poaching are important for the conservation of these charismatic apex predators. A limited number of microsatellite markers exists for Panthera species and researchers often cross-amplify domestic cat microsatellites to study these species. We conducted data mining of seven Panthera genome sequences to discover microsatellites for conservation genetic studies of four threatened big cat species. A total of 32 polymorphic microsatellite loci were identified in silico and tested with 152 big cats, and were found polymorphic in most of the tested species. We propose a set of 12 novel microsatellite markers for use in conservation genetics and wildlife forensic investigations of big cat species. Cumulatively, these markers have a high discriminatory power of one in a million for unrelated individuals and one in a thousand for siblings. Similar PCR conditions of these markers increase the prospects of achieving efficient multiplex PCR assays. This study is a pioneering attempt to synthesise genome wide microsatellite markers for big cats.

The Sundarbans tiger inhabits a unique mangrove habitat and are morphologically distinct from the recognized tiger subspecies in terms of skull morphometrics and body size. Thus, there is an urgent need to assess their ecological and genetic distinctiveness and determine if Sundarbans tigers should be defined and managed as separate conservation unit. We utilized nine microsatellites and 3 kb from four mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genes to estimate genetic variability, population structure, demographic parameters and visualize historic and contemporary connectivity among tiger populations from Sundarbans and mainland India. We also evaluated the traits that determine exchangeability or adaptive differences among tiger populations. Data from both markers suggest that Sundarbans tiger is not a separate tiger subspecies and should be regarded as Bengal tiger (P. t. tigris) subspecies. Maximum likelihood phylogenetic analyses of the mtDNA data revealed reciprocal monophyly. Genetic differentiation was found stronger for mtDNA than nuclear DNA. Microsatellite markers indicated low genetic variation in Sundarbans tigers (He= 0.58) as compared to other mainland populations, such as northern and Peninsular (Hebetween 0.67- 0.70). Molecular data supports migration between mainland and Sundarbans populations until very recent times. We attribute this reduction in gene flow to accelerated fragmentation and habitat alteration in the landscape over the past few centuries. Demographic analyses suggest that Sundarbans tigers have diverged recently from peninsular tiger population within last 2000 years. Sundarbans tigers are the most divergent group of Bengal tigers, and ecologically non-exchangeable with other tiger populations, and thus should be managed as a separate \"evolutionarily significant unit\" (ESU) following the adaptive evolutionary conservation (AEC) concept.