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Dhole density estimates hinge on what camera traps can see

Wild adult dhole in the natural habitat of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, India
Research: Ecology · Conservation: Population & status

How many dholes live in a landscape where forest meets farms and plantations? On the Valparai plateau in India’s Western Ghats, researchers compared two ways of estimating the density of the dhole (Cuon alpinus), an endangered social carnivore.

One approach used DNA from dhole faeces to identify individual animals. It estimated a density of 22 dholes per 100 km². The other used detections from camera traps. Its estimates changed substantially depending on how researchers measured the area each camera was assumed to cover. When they measured that area after the camera surveys—and especially when they reduced it by 10%—the camera-trap estimates were comparable to the DNA-based estimate.

The researchers also compared the approaches for leopards (Panthera pardus), which can be recognised individually by their markings. The camera-trap approach estimated 7 leopards per 100 km², while the DNA-based approach estimated 12. The uncertainty intervals overlapped, so this comparison does not establish a clear difference between the estimates.

Dholes lack distinctive natural markings that make it easy to recognise individuals in photographs. The researchers suggest that camera traps could therefore offer a practical, relatively inexpensive way to establish a baseline estimate for dhole populations. But the comparison shows that the area cameras are assumed to cover can strongly affect the result. The study comes from one landscape, so its estimate is not a measure of dhole density across India, and the same camera-area assumptions may not work everywhere. The authors interpret the findings as evidence that human-used agroforest mosaics can support dhole densities comparable to, or higher than, those reported from several protected areas.

Sources and image credit

  1. Rationalizing the application of spatial capture-recapture versus space-to-event models for monitoring populations of an endangered social carnivorePrimærkilden er et bioRxiv-preprint. Kontrollen bygger på det tilgjengelige sammendraget; fullteksten var ikke tilgjengelig.
  2. Rationalizing the application of spatial capture-recapture versus space-to-event models for monitoring populations of an endangered social carnivoreTilgjengelig indeksert oppføring brukt til å kontrollere sammendraget og publiseringsdatoen for bioRxiv-preprintet.

Image: Canidgirl82 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Representative wild dhole from Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, India; not photographed during the Valparai study. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

About this content: This story was produced with AI assistance within an editorial workflow developed by Wildlife Vagabond. Editorial responsibility remains with Wildlife Vagabond.How AI is used

Ecology

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Dhole Cuon alpinus Explore species Leopard Panthera pardus Explore species

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