FOOD HABITS OF INDIAN CRESTED PORCUPINE (HYSTRIX INDICA) IN RAINFED POTHOWAR PLATEAU, PUNJAB, PAKISTAN.

This study was conducted in the Department of Forestry, Range Management and Wildlife, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan, during 2012 to examine the food habits of Indian crested porcupine in Kallar Kahar area of Pothowar plateau. Study period was divided into four seasons viz. spring (February-April), summer (May-August), fall (September-October) and winter (November-January). Twenty samples of faecal pallets and five stomach contents of porcupine were collected during each season making a total number of 80 fecal pallets and 20 stomach contents. The porcupines were trapped by using live traps, killed and examined for stomach contents. The faecal pallets were searched and collected from the field. Percentage, relative frequency and Berger-Parker index were used to describe the results. It was revealed from stomach contents that Acacia modesta was the most consumed tree species with percentage relative frequency of 24.21± 1.39, 19.91±2.21, 31.78±2.56 and 29.68±1.14 in summer, spring, fall and winter, respectively. In case of faecal pallets again, Acacia modesta was the most consumed tree species in terms of percent relatively frequency of 27.57 ±2.16, 21.16±3.11, 23.90±1.03 and 30.14±2.22 in summer, spring, fall and winter seasons, respectively. Among crops, Sorghum vulgaris and Hordeum vulgare were the most consumed species with a percentage relatively frequency of 23.38±0.00 and 4.65±1.87 in summer and fall, respectively as observed in stomach contents. Likewise, Sorghum vulgaris and Triticum aestivum were the most consumed crop species with percentage relative frequency of 21.35±4.31 and 17.23±2.52 in summer and winter season, respectively, as indicated from the analysis of faecal pallets. In total, ten plants were consumed by porcupine during summer, spring, and fall season while 11 plants were consumed in winter season. It indicates that food of porcupine in Kallar Kahar area of Pothowar rangeland consists of a number of grasses, shrubs and trees which include both cultivated as well as natural flora. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]