Do we need to unfriend a few friends? Free-ranging dogs affect wildlife and pastoralists in the Indian Trans-Himalaya

Dogs Canis lupus familiaris, among canids, have emerged as the most successful predators and facultative scavengers, and have prevented other carnivores from approaching human habitats through intraguild competition. Over time with increasing population and livestock predation, they have become a matter of concern for pastoralists. The present study was conducted to understand the patterns of free-ranging dogs' predation on livestock and wildlife, from 2015 to 2017 in Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary (CWLS), Ladakh, India. Information was collected on (a) dog populations in 10 sites using polygon search in Spatially Explicit Capture-Recapture framework and block count, (b) their diet using scat analysis (n = 205) and (c) perceptions of pastoralists towards dogs through questionnaire-based interviews (n = 210). Dog densities varied between 10 and 310 individuals/100 km² and were high in and around human habitations. A major part of their diet constituted of livestock (74.29%) and wild species (13.06%). Among wild prey species, birds (4.49%), lagomorphs (3.67%), rodents (2.45%) and Tibetan wild ass (1.63%) had high occurrence in dog diet. The local people admitted that dogs pose a threat to livestock and wildlife. As unowned free-ranging dogs harm livestock and wildlife, about 40% of the respondents had negative perceptions towards them. The perception varied with occupation and pastoralists were more negative than non-pastoralists (P < 0.001). We suggest that effective mechanisms need to be identified or developed to manage dog populations in ecologically and economically sensitive areas to minimise the threats and safeguard the endangered wildlife and local livelihoods.