Home ranges of Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris L.) in Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, Central India

Abstract

The home range size is an important parameter required for effective conservation and management of a species. Home ranges of three radio collared Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris tigirs) (one adult female or AF, one adult male or AM and one sub-adult male or SAM) were studied between March 2008 and December 2011 in Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR), Madhya Pradesh, Central India. Using 95% Minimum Convex Polygon (MCP), the estimated home range of AF (n= 750 locations) was 43 km², AM (n= 118 locations) was 55.1 km2 and SAM (n= 734 locations) was 52.2 km2. Using 95% Fixed Kernel (FK), the home range of AF was 32.1 km², AM was 64.1 km2 and SAM was 19.1 km2. The core area of activity for each tiger as determined by 50% Fixed Kernel (FK) method was 6.2 km² for AF, 13.4 km2 for AM and 4.1 km2 for SAM. The estimated overlap area between AM and AF using 95% FK was 19.2 km² (65 %), whereas it was 15.4 km² (48%) between AF and SAM. The AF recruited three, four and five cubs in her 1st, 2nd and 3rd litter respectively. Minimum 44% of the original natal area was used by AF at the time of raising her 2nd litter and 46% in her 3rd litter. Though there was a gradual increase of annual home range observed for first two years but the core activity area remained considerably same for AF over the study period. The study revealed that minimum of 25 to 30 km² area was required for a breeding female in PTR where wild prey density (348.2/km²) was found to be high with adequate ground cover for the successful raising of cubs up to dispersal stage. The findings highlight the need for developing a long term monitoring system for tigers in PTR and surrounding habitats to understand the survival and dispersal patterns.