Are stray Tibetan mastiffs a potential threat to snow leopards on the Tibetan Plateau?
Liu, M. (2018). Are stray Tibetan mastiffs a potential threat to snow leopards on the Tibetan Plateau?. 5th European Congress of Conservation Biology. doi: 10.17011/conference/eccb2018/107622
Tekijät
Päivämäärä
2018Tekijänoikeudet
© the Authors, 2018
Around 2012, due to the rise then collapse of the Tibetan mastiff (Canis lupus familiaris) market, many dog breeders around Sanjiangyuan Nature Reserve abandoned their mastiffs. Since mastiffs have a range of biological traits and broad morphological adaptability, they occur at densities higher than any other similar sized native carnivores. In recent years, local people have observed incidents of mastiffs in packs attacking snow leopards (Panthera uncia) and other wildlife. As a result, stray mastiffs, acting as an introduced species, may become a novel threat to snow leopards, which are a flagship species of the fragile highland ecosystem.
Our research aims to understand the ecological role played by stray Tibetan mastiffs in the local ecosystem, and if mastiffs could act as potential predators, prey, and competitors for snow leopards.
We assessed stray mastiff population dynamics by photo recaptures and line transects around 57 sites across 3 years. We put GPS collars on 16 stray mastiffs to estimate their home range, distribution patterns, and movement model. We collected 386 snow leopards and 157 mastiffs scat samples to acquire diet and intestinal microbial community. We set 55 camera traps to analyze activity patterns and habitat selection of them. We then looked at how stray Tibetan mastiffs were interacting with snow leopards through spatial, temporal, and resource separation within Sanjiangyuan Nature Reserve.
Pregnancy rate of female mastiffs was as high as 40.4±5.0%, with the death rate of pups estimated at 64.1±7.3% in the first year, the population growth rate was 5.1±3%. The density of stray Tibetan mastiffs ranged from 0.34-10.6 Indi/km2, averaged at 1.6±0.3 Indi/km2. 95% kernel estimation of home range ranged from 0.15-28.23 km2, average 10.14±3.50 km2. High birth rate and density, large home range, combined average weight exceeds 20 kg and group hunting behavior, the stray Tibetan mastiffs may be in a dominant position in the interference competition.
The dietary overlap between Tibetan mastiffs and snow leopards was 0.43, ANOSIM (OTU level) of intestinal microbial community was 0.33. This suggests that there are similarities in dietary structure among both species. Around 52962 km2 is occupied by Tibetan mastiffs, and 19756km2 was in snow leopard habitat (16.9%). Combining the overlap of activity patterns was 0.53, we cannot neglect the exploitative competition between the two species.
All the evidence demonstrates stray Tibetan mastiffs could potentially become an emerging threat to snow leopards. Our research can contribute valuable knowledge on a key threat to snow leopards and develop locally relevant solutions that is scientifically based, locally accepted and participatory. We have been working with the local government and communities on the early tests of public education, sterilization and adoption of stray mastiffs. As a result, we hope to see a better future for the long-term conservation of Sanjiangyuan Region.
...
Julkaisija
Open Science Centre, University of JyväskyläKonferenssi
ECCB2018: 5th European Congress of Conservation Biology. 12th - 15th of June 2018, Jyväskylä, Finland
Alkuperäislähde
https://peerageofscience.org/conference/eccb2018/107622/Metadata
Näytä kaikki kuvailutiedotKokoelmat
- ECCB 2018 [712]
Lisenssi
Samankaltainen aineisto
Näytetään aineistoja, joilla on samankaltainen nimeke tai asiasanat.
-
Research of abandoned Tibetan mastiffs and interaction with local carnivores in Sanjiangyuan National Natural Reserve, Tibetan Plateau
Liu, Mingyu (Open Science Centre, University of Jyväskylä, 2018)Between 2000-2012, a high market demand for Tibetan mastiffs stimulated dog raising in Tibetan Plateau but soon collapsed market led to abandonment of dogs. Due to high reproductive ability and adaptability, increased ... -
Tibetan refugees in Nepal : identity negotiation
Sharapan, Maria (2015) -
The role of snow leopard predation in determine prey recruitment: a synthetic study of abiotic, bottom-up and top-down influences on the Tibetan Plateau
Xiao, Lingyun; Lu, Zhi; Mishra, Charudutt (Open Science Centre, University of Jyväskylä, 2018)Ungulate populations could either be limited by resources (bottom-up control) or be regulated by predation (top-down control). Consequently, for ungulates and their predators, conservation strategies may need to differ ... -
Discovering Buddhism Online : A Translocative Analysis of Tibetan Buddhist Forum Discussions
Sharapan, Maria (University of Heidelberg, 2018)The study investigates how tenets, meanings and practices of Tibetan Buddhism are re-contextualized by non-Tibetan students of online courses offered by a major Tibetan Buddhist organization. The research adopts transcultural ... -
Commodification of Tibetan culture by socially mediated place branding
Miao, Yuanke (2022)This study analysed the tourism-oriented place branding videos of a state- controlled Tibetan celebrity published via social media. The analysis applied multimodal discourse analysis as the methodological tool to examine ...
Ellei toisin mainittu, julkisesti saatavilla olevia JYX-metatietoja (poislukien tiivistelmät) saa vapaasti uudelleenkäyttää CC0-lisenssillä.