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Objective estimates of crop loss due to herbivores and their comparison with the perception of people towards damage factors are required for the formulation of effective mitigation strateg...

The information regarding animal distribution and perceptiveness of local communities play an essential role in designing and planning protected areas, and their management policies as well. To this aim, we mapped the distribution of our focal species, Nilgai antelope (Boselaphus tragocamelus) in and around the Abohar wildlife sanctuary from December 2017 to November 2018. Mapping the species density helped in identifying the critical spots regarding animal density. Our data indicated Nilgai density ranging from 0.0654 to 6.946 individuals/km2. The seasonal group size of males and females was observed to be significantly different throughout (p

There is an information gap on biodiversity effects of land use and land cover (LULC) dynamics of agrarian landscapes. Such data are essential for policy making and species management in agroecosystems. Thus, changes in LULC inside the Abohar wildlife sanctuary and its eco-sensitive zone were investigated using LISS-III satellite images from 2003 to 2016. The area under cropland witnessed a 3.6% increase, whereas wastelands significantly declined by 4.3%. Further, the impact of LULC dynamics on nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus) was determined through mortality distribution in the sanctuary from 2012 to 2017. The spatio-temporal distribution pattern of mortality revealed that a total of 336 nilgai died during the six years studied. Free-ranging feral dogs, in conjunction with fencing and road accidents, were the major factors involved in nilgai casualty. Fatalities were clustered in regions with significant LULC change. The results confirmed that intensified development and reuse of derelict agricultural fields disturbed nilgai ecology and habitat use pattern. Human-wildlife conflicts in agrarian landscapes are an increasing concern and should be managed following identification of sensitive areas.

The present investigation has been carried out with the primary objective of estimating the lipid andprotein content of processing waste produced from snakehead murrel (Channa striatus) and catfish (Wallago attu). The minimum total lipid content (2.63+0.23 g/100 g) was observed in the waste of C. striatus during May and the maximum total lipid content (11.20+0.24 g/100 g) was observed in the waste of W. attu during the month of February. The lipid content in processing waste of both the fish initially increased significantly (p