War zone refugia? Establishing a baseline for protected waterbirds in a wildlife refuge flanked by agriculture and militarization

Abstract Objectives The welfare of threatened fauna should not be assumed merely because their refuges have been designated with protected status. This is particularly true in geographical areas where social/military events drive an under-reported, but potentially lethal, type of human–wildlife interaction. Waterbirds of Gharana Wetland Conservation Reserve consist mostly of threatened species. However, as occurs globally, ‘protected’ fauna near contested borders are sometimes affected by military forces. As part of a larger project to document regional avifauna, we report the seasonal status of waterbirds in order to help establish a baseline for comparing conservation of wildlife within contested areas to that of fauna in more secure refuges. We examined 24 avifauna surveys for relationships between seasons, temperature, individuals and species. Results 28 of 61 waterbird species were rare. We found seasonal variations in individuals (F 3,731 = 3.82; P < 0.01) and species (F 3,11 = 5.81; P < 0.05) with a major influx in late winter, rather than autumn. Thus, while this sanctuary serves as an over-wintering site, it is also a stop-over site for high-altitude migrations. While providing this baseline, we offer a reminder that the welfare of wildlife in protected areas should be monitored seasonally, with the ongoing threats to their conservation, carefully documented

Social Class and Group Size as Predictors of Behavior in Male Equus kiang

Ethograms provide a systematic approach to identify and quantify the repertoire of behaviors of an organism. This information may assist animal welfare in zoos, increase awareness of conservation needs, and help curb high-risk behaviors during human-wildlife conflict. Our primary objective was to utilize an equid ethogram to produce activity budgets for Equus kiang males, a social ungulate that is among the least-studied mammals worldwide, and unknown to the ethological literature. We recently reported the existence of three social classes of this species; Territorial males, Bachelor males and ‘Transient’ males. Therefore, our secondary objective was to compare activity budgets in each of these three groups. We found that kiang spent >70% of their time performing six behaviors: vigilance (34%), locomotion (24.2%), resting (14.2%), mixed foraging (12.5%), browsing (5.1%), and antagonism (1.1%). Over 2% of the total behavioral investment was spent on olfactory investigations (genital sniffing, sniffing proximity and flehmen). Eleven of the eighteen behaviors differed by class. Habitat selection differed strongly by each group, with Territorial males favoring mesic sites with greater vegetation abundance. Vigilance also differed according to habitat selection, but not group size. Animals in the xeric, least vegetation-rich area were far less vigilant than animals at more attractive sites. We found that the full repertoire of behaviors, and relative investments in each, differ according to social class. These findings are a reminder that researchers should make every effort to disambiguate social class among ungulates– and other taxa where behaviors are class-dependent

Observations of waterbirds under duress from military actions and agriculture

The welfare of threatened fauna should not be assumed merely because their refuges have been designated with protected status. This is particularly true in geographical areas where social/military events drive an under-reported, but potentially lethal, type of human-wildlife interaction. Waterbirds of Gharana Wetland Conservation Reserve consist mostly of threatened species. However, as occurs globally, 'protected' fauna near contested borders are sometimes affected by military forces. As part of a larger project to document regional avifauna, we report the seasonal status of waterbirds in order to help establish a baseline for comparing conservation of wildlife within contested areas to that of fauna in more secure refuges. We examined 24 avifauna surveys for relationships between seasons, temperature, individuals and species

Survey of avifauna of the Gharana wetland reserve: implications for conservation in a semi-arid agricultural setting on the Indo-Pakistan border

Abstract Background The Gharana wetland conservation reserve (GWCR) is a semi-arid wetland adjacent to agricultural areas on the Indo-Pakistani border. Despite being declared an Important Bird Area (IBA) by Birdlife International, the occurrence and distribution of birds has not been well-documented in this area. Our aims were to systematically document the composition, relative abundance and feeding guilds of all avian fauna in order to form a baseline to monitor changes from—and to underwrite—future conservation actions. Results From 24 surveys over 1 year, we recorded 151 species from 45 families and 15 orders. 41% of species were listed as ‘rare’ and only 22% were ‘very common’. The largest number of families belonged to the order Passeriformes (40%), followed by Charadriiformes (14%) and Coraciiformes (11%). The most species (12%), were found in the family Anatidae (Anseriformes—widely recognized as bio-indicators), followed by Accipitridae (Falconiformes;12%) and Muscicapidae (Passeriformes; 6%). Carnivores and insectivores were the feeding guilds most frequently observed. Indeed, more than 50% of all species fed on the abundant fish, mollusks and insects and larvae. Bark-feeders and nectarivores were the least common. Conclusions Winter visitors were frequently found, while summer visitors were rare, reinforcing the importance of GWCR as a wintering site for high-altitude species. The conservation of this wetland is especially crucial for nine globally-threatened species. We have provided baseline documentation to help future monitoring efforts for this region, and a template to initiate the implementation of conservation plans for other remote IBAs

Survey of Avifauna of the Gharana Wetland Reserve

The Gharana wetland conservation reserve (GWCR) is a semi-arid wetland adjacent to agricultural areas on the Indo-Pakistani border. Despite being declared an Important Bird Area (IBA) by Birdlife International, the occurrence and distribution of birds has not been well-documented in this area. Our aims were to systematically document the composition, relative abundance and feeding guilds of all avian fauna in order to form a baseline to monitor changes from-and to underwrite-future conservation actions