Large carnivores and humans, along with their livestock, have co-existed for thousands of years. However, human population growth and an increase in economic activities are modifying the landscape... Show moreLarge carnivores and humans, along with their livestock, have co-existed for thousands of years. However, human population growth and an increase in economic activities are modifying the landscape for large carnivores and their prey. I studied the interaction between tiger and leopard in a human dominated landscape around Bardia National Park, Nepal. Due to the increase in number of tigers inside the park leopards may be pushed out of the park, where they become involved in conflicts while there may also be a spill-over of young tigers moving to the buffer zone. Tigers were not directly involved in conflict with people which were found from the presence of prey remains in their scats. Elephants were killing most of the humans whereas leopards were found to kill most of the livestock. For future conservation programs we need to focus on the conservation of tiger and leopard in human dominated landscape. Due to interaction with tigers, the leopards are living in close proximity with people and thereby get more involved in conflicts with local communities. Tigers enjoy a religious and cultural tolerance among the people living in the buffer zone whereas leopards lack such religious and cultural tolerance. Show less
Raptors in West Africa’s savannas have strongly declined the past four decades and many species now survive only in a few pockets of intact habitat, mostly inside protected areas, while some... Show moreRaptors in West Africa’s savannas have strongly declined the past four decades and many species now survive only in a few pockets of intact habitat, mostly inside protected areas, while some species are on the brink of extinction. Little is known about the processes that sustain raptor populations within increasingly human-transformed savanna landscapes, and clues to the mechanisms and causal drivers behind population declines remain little studied. Moreover, it is unclear how changing conditions differently affect the diverse assemblage of Afrotropical and Palearctic raptors, which depend on the West Africa’s savannas for part or most of their life cycle, and how vulnerability, or adaptability to changing environments, relate to life-history traits such as their mobility, sex, age, body mass, and diet. This thesis quantifies the effects of land transformation on distribution, foraging, diet, and reproductive output of Palearctic and Afrotropical raptors, both migratory and sedentary, in West African savannas, to increase the knowledge that can support conservation efforts directed at the persistence of rich raptor populations in this part of the world. Show less
