The influence of differing hunting practices on the relative abundance of mammals in two rainforest areas of the Western Ghats, India

Abstract

We assessed the distribution and relative abundance of mammals in two rainforest areas, Brahmagiri-Makut and Sirsi-Honnavara, of the Western Ghats, southern India, from November 2001 to April 2002. Both direct (daytime and night-time wildlife sightings through ‘recky’ walks) and indirect (wildlife signs and local information) methods were employed. A total of 34–35 species, of which we recorded 31–32, are known from the two areas; 14 are in one of the IUCN Red List threatened categories and six are endemic to India. Ecological factors account for the distribution and relative abundance of only three species (Nilgiri langur Semnopithecus johnii, lion-tailed macaque Macaca silenus and Asiatic elephant Elephas maximus). Ten other large species of mammals were more common in Sirsi-Honnavara than in Brahmagiri-Makut, whereas most of nine smaller species were generally more common in Brahmagiri-Makut. These differences can be attributed to different hunting practices rather than to ecological or biogeographical factors. In Brahmagiri-Makut the mainly daytime hunting using guns has the greatest impact on large diurnal mammals, whereas in Sirsi-Honnavara the mostly night-time hunting with traps, and avoidance of primates, has a greater effect on small nocturnal mammals. Brahmagiri-Makut is one of the few areas in the Western Ghats where all of the primate species of southern India can still be found, but the area does not receive any official protection. In Sirsi-Honnavara encroachment of agriculture is a regular practice, and the remaining forests exist only as a network of narrow strips.