Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Oct 3;13(10):e10587.
doi: 10.1002/ece3.10587. eCollection 2023 Oct.

Factors affecting the occupancy of sloth bear and its detection probability in Parsa-Koshi Complex, Nepal

Affiliations

Factors affecting the occupancy of sloth bear and its detection probability in Parsa-Koshi Complex, Nepal

Hari Prasad Sharma et al. Ecol Evol. .

Abstract

Understanding factors associated with coexistence of human and wildlife in human-dominated landscapes is crucial for effective species conservation. Among the wildlife species, the sloth bears Melursus ursinus are found both inside and outside the protected areas of Nepal, and with increasing cases of human and bear conflicts in both areas. This highlights the necessity for a comprehensive understanding of anthropogenic and ecological factors that affect the occurrence of sloth bear. The understanding of these factors is important for its coexistence and conservation in human-dominated areas through establishing management and conservation action plan. We studied the sloth bear's occupancy and their coexistence in human-dominated environments with other large predators in the Parsa-Koshi Complex of Nepal using camera traps from December 2022 to March 2023. We identified the occupancy and detection probability of the sloth bear as 0.12 and 0.31, respectively. Our analysis reveals a positive relationship between sloth bear occurrence and the presence of large predators (βpredators = 3.104 ± 0.968), such as tigers (Panthera tigris) and leopards (Panthera pardus), as well as the number of humans detected (βhuman = 1.428 ± 1.216) and canopy cover percentage (βcc = 1.002 ± 0.737). However, the number of livestock detected shows a negative interaction with the occurrence of sloth bears (βlivestock = -2.240 ± 1.467). There was insignificant interaction between sloth bear occupancy and distance to human settlements, roads, and water bodies. These findings underscore the complex dynamics between sloth bears, humans, large predators, and livestock in human-dominated landscapes. To ensure the long-term survival of sloth bear populations and promote species conservation, comprehensive conservation strategies that account for both ecological and socio-economic factors are essential.

Keywords: Melursus ursinus; Parsa–Koshi Complex; camera traps; lowland; occupancy; sloth bear.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Sloth bear study area in Parsa–Koshi Complex, Nepal. Protected areas and district administrative boundaries are illustrated in the insect.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Detection probability (p) and occupancy (ps i ) of sloth bear in Parsa–Koshi Complex in the lowland of Nepal.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Estimated effect of covariates on sloth bear occurrence along with their upper and lower credible intervals in Parsa–Koshi Complex, in the lowland of Nepal.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Inverse distance weighting (IDW) interpolation‐based detection probability map of sloth bear across Parsa–Koshi Complex in the lowland of Nepal.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Ahlering, M. A. , Maldonado, J. E. , Eggert, L. S. , Fleischer, R. C. , Western, D. , & Brown, J. L. (2013). Conservation outside protected areas and the effect of human‐dominated landscapes on stress hormones in savannah elephants. Conservation Biology, 27(3), 569–575. - PubMed
    1. Ahmadi, M. , Kaboli, M. , Nourani, E. , Alizadeh Shabani, A. , & Ashrafi, S. (2013). A predictive spatial model for gray wolf (Canis lupus) denning sites in a human‐dominated landscape in western Iran. Ecological Research, 28, 513–521.
    1. Akhtar, N. , Bargali, H. S. , & Chauhan, N. P. S. (2004). Sloth bear habitat use in disturbed and unprotected areas of Madhya Pradesh, India. Ursus, 15(2), 203–211.
    1. Athreya, V. , Odden, M. , Linnell, J. D. , Krishnaswamy, J. , & Karanth, U. (2013). Big cats in our backyards: Persistence of large carnivores in a human dominated landscape in India. PLoS One, 8(3), e57872. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bajracharya, D. (1983). Deforestation in the food/fuel context: Historical and political perspectives from Nepal. Mountain Research and Development, 3, 227–240.

LinkOut - more resources