Latest news with #UmaRamakrishnan
Time of India
25-06-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Tadoba tigers gorge on flying squirrels, mongoose but sambar remains top pick
1 2 Nagpur: From flying squirrels to wild mongoose, and from sloth bear to hare, tigers in Tadoba have gorged on a variety of prey, with sambar being their top pick. A study conducted by researchers from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru, and officials of Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) revealed that the diet of tigers in the buffer zone consists of almost 23% domestic animals. The study examined scat samples in TATR during three different seasons. Samples were collected during the monsoon (September-October 2022), winter (January-February 2023), and summer (May-June 2023) to study the diet patterns of tigers, leopards, and dhole (wild dogs). For tigers, sambar was the most preferred prey, followed by wild boar and chital. For leopards, wild boar was the top choice, followed by sambar. For wild dogs, sambar and chital were equally preferred, followed by wild hare. The study, led by principal investigators from NCBS Uma Ramakrishnan and Abhinav Tyagi, found 16 species in the tiger diet in TATR from 143 samples. The study revealed that overall, 90% of the tiger's diet comprised a wild prey. When breaking it down by areas, wild prey constituted 99% of the tiger's diet is in the core and around 77% in the buffer. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Perdagangkan CFD Emas dengan Broker Tepercaya IC Markets Mendaftar Undo There were some minor shifts in diet patterns according to seasons found in the study. In the monsoon season, grey langur and jungle fowl were uniquely identified, whereas Indian peafowl and buffalo were observed in the winter diet of tigers. During the summer months, grey jungle fowl and grey mongoose appeared as distinct dietary components. However, gaur and Indian hare were notably absent from the summer scat samples. For leopards, researchers recorded the highest dietary diversity in winter, identifying 21 different prey species in leopard scat samples. This was followed by the monsoon season, with 14 species, while the lowest diversity was observed in summer, with just 12 species detected. In winter, the leopard's diet included species such as civets, porcupine, grey junglefowl, chicken, and buffalo—species that were not found in samples from other seasons. The monsoon diet featured unique bird species, including Indian peafowl, buttonquail, and pond heron, in addition to other prey commonly consumed throughout the year. A marked increase in the consumption of cattle, langur, and nilgai was observed during the summer, indicating a possible seasonal shift in prey availability or preference.
Time of India
08-05-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Predators' DNA traces at livestock kill sites can aid better human-wildlife conflict management: National Centre for Biological Sciences
Bengaluru: Researchers from Bengaluru's National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) have shown that trace DNA left by large carnivores at livestock kill sites can be used to reliably identify individual predators. This approach offers a powerful tool to effectively manage human-wildlife conflict and understand predator behaviour and ecology, NCBS said Thursday. The study was recently published in the journal Biological Conservation."In communities that live in proximity to large carnivores, livestock depredation might cause conservation challenges. Systematic understanding of individuals involved in conflict is a critical first step towards a solution," said Prof Uma Ramakrishnan, senior author of the out that around the world, managing human-wildlife conflict often involves relocating or removing the suspected predator, NCBS said typically, forest departments rely on field signs like pugmarks, scat, or claw marks to identify the animal involved. Operation Sindoor Operation Sindoor: Several airports in India closed - check full list Did Pak shoot down Indian jets? What MEA said India foils Pakistan's attack on Jammu airport: What we know so far "However, these signs can be ambiguous, and removing the non-target individual may disturb carnivore populations and sometimes, further intensify conflict situations. More reliable and robust genetic identification of predators could be an effective strategy for conflict resolution," it researchers, in collaboration with Panthera and Madhya Pradesh forest department, investigated 198 kill sites across two of central India's key tiger habitats: Kanha and Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserves. At each site, researchers collected non-invasive genetic samples — saliva, scat, and shed hair as a potential source of predator DNA."Using genetic tools based on Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), they identified individual tigers present at these kill sites. Shed hair samples were the most effective for identification, followed closely by saliva and scat. Overall, tigers were successfully identified at 85% of the kill sites, with species-level identification exceeding 95% across all sample types," NCBS assess each tiger's likely involvement in a kill, the team developed a classification framework based on the type and location of genetic evidence. Each case was categorised as a "true predator" (high confidence), "circumstantial predator" (medium confidence), or "predator uncertain" (low confidence). Out of 198 cases studied, 72 were classified with high confidence, 34 with medium confidence, and 49 with low Chhattani, lead author of the study, said, "Genetic samples are often the only true evidence of a predation event. While identification is possible, there remains some possibility of misidentification, especially when multiple individuals are present at the kill site. That's why it's important to assign confidence levels in identification. We hope that such a classification scheme will help better represent the level of confidence provided by the genetic tools and further evidence-based conflict management."For wildlife managers and conservationists, this method adds a reliable, evidence-based tool to help address predator-livestock conflict, while contributing to long-term predator monitoring, benefiting both local communities and wildlife conservation efforts.
The Hindu
08-05-2025
- Science
- The Hindu
Trace DNA left by large carnivores at livestock kill sites can be used to reliably identify individual predators: NCBS study
National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) researchers in a recent study have stated that trace DNA left by large carnivores at livestock kill sites can be used to reliably identify individual predators. NCBS said that this approach offers a powerful tool to effectively manage human-wildlife conflict and understand predator behaviour and ecology. 'In communities that live in proximity to large carnivores, livestock depredation might cause conservation challenges. Systematic understanding of individuals involved in conflict is a critical first step towards a solution,' said Uma Ramakrishnan, senior author of the study which has been published in Biological Conservation. NCBS said that around the world, managing human-wildlife conflict often involves relocating or removing the suspected predator. 'Typically, forest departments rely on field signs like pugmarks, scat, or claw marks to identify the animal involved. However, these signs can be ambiguous, and removing the non-target individual may disturb carnivore populations and sometimes further intensify conflict situations. More reliable and robust genetic identification of predators could be an effective strategy for conflict resolution,' NCBS said. The researchers in collaboration with Panthera and the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department investigated 198 kill sites across two of Central India's key tiger habitats - Kanha and Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserves. At each site, researchers collected non-invasive genetic samples - saliva, scat, and shed hair as a potential source of predator DNA. Using genetic tools based on Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), they identified individual tigers present at these kill sites. Shed hair samples were the most effective for individual identification, followed closely by saliva and scat. Overall, tigers were successfully identified at 85% of the kill sites, with species-level identification exceeding 95% across all sample types. To assess each tiger's likely involvement in a kill, the team developed a classification framework based on the type and location of genetic evidence. Each case was categorised as a true predator (high confidence),circumstantial predator (medium confidence), or predator uncertain (low confidence). Out of the 198 cases studied, 72 were classified with high confidence, 34 with medium confidence, and 49 with low confidence. 'Genetic samples are often the only true evidence of a predation event and are therefore vital. While identification is possible, there remains some possibility of misidentification especially when multiple individuals are present at the kill site. That's why it's important to assign confidence levels in identification. We hope that such a classification scheme will help better represent the level of confidence provided by the genetic tools and further evidence-based conflict management,' said Himanshu Chhattani, lead author of the study.
Time of India
08-05-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Predators' DNA traces at livestock kill can aid better human-wildlife conflict management
Credit: NCBS BENGALURU: Researchers from Bengaluru's National Centre for Biological Sciences ( NCBS ) have shown that trace DNA left by large carnivores at livestock kill sites can be used to reliably identify individual predators. This approach offers a powerful tool to manage human-wildlife conflict and better understand predator behaviour and ecology, NCBS said on Thursday. The study, conducted by Prof Uma Ramakrishnan 's group, was recently published in the journal Biological Conservation. 'In communities that live in proximity to large carnivores, livestock depredation can pose significant conservation challenges. A systematic understanding of the individuals involved in conflict is a critical first step toward a solution,' said Ramakrishnan, senior author of the study. Pointing out that managing human-wildlife conflict around the world often involves relocating or removing the suspected predator, NCBS said that forest departments typically rely on field signs like pugmarks, scat, or claw marks to identify the animal involved. 'However, these signs can be ambiguous, and removing a non-target individual may disturb carnivore populations and, in some cases, further intensify conflict situations. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Invest $200 in Amazon without buying stocks to earn a second salary Marketsall Sign Up Undo More reliable and robust genetic identification of predators could be an effective strategy for conflict resolution,' it added. NCBS researchers, in collaboration with Panthera and the Madhya Pradesh forest department, investigated 198 kill sites across two of Central India's key tiger habitats: the Kanha and Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserves. At each site, researchers collected non-invasive genetic samples — saliva, scat, and shed hair — as potential sources of predator DNA. Using genetic tools based on Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), the team identified individual tigers present at these kill sites. Shed hair samples were the most effective for individual identification, followed closely by saliva and scat. Overall, tigers were successfully identified at 85% of the kill sites, with species-level identification exceeding 95% across all sample types, NCBS said. To assess each tiger's likely involvement in a kill, the team developed a classification framework based on the type and location of genetic evidence. Each case was categorised as a 'true predator' (high confidence), 'circumstantial predator' (medium confidence), or 'predator uncertain' (low confidence). Of the 198 cases studied, 72 were classified with high confidence, 34 with medium confidence, and 49 with low confidence. 'Genetic samples are often the only true evidence of a predation event and are therefore vital. While identification is possible, there remains some possibility of misidentification, especially when multiple individuals are present at the kill site,' said Himanshu Chhattani , lead author of the study. 'That's why it's important to assign confidence levels in identification. We hope that such a classification scheme will help better represent the level of certainty provided by genetic tools and support evidence-based conflict management,' Chhattani added. For wildlife managers and conservationists, this method adds a reliable, evidence-based tool to address predator-livestock conflict while contributing to long-term predator monitoring — benefiting both local communities and wildlife conservation efforts.
