Habitat suitability of four threatened Himalayan species: Asiatic black bear, common leopard, musk deer, and snow leopard

• Published in: PeerJ (San Francisco, CA) Vol. 11; p. e16085
• Main Authors: Malla, Rajesh, Panthi, Saroj, Adhikari, Hari, Pariyar, Shiva, Baral, Rishi, Subedi, Rukmagat, Adhikari, Bishnu Prasad, Poudel, Mahesh, Sedhai, Nischal, Poudel, Megharaj
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Diego, USA PeerJ. Ltd 25-09-2023; PeerJ Inc
• Subjects: Animal behavior; Anthropogenic impacts; Biological diversity conservation; Black bear; Conservation Biology; Coupled Natural and Human Systems; Distribution; Ecology; Environmental Impacts; Gandaki province; MaxEnt; Nepal; Protection and preservation; Wildlife conservation; Zoology; United Kingdom; Iran; Nepal; India
• DOI: 10.7717/peerj.16085
• EISSN: 2167-8359

Background Biodiversity conservation is becoming challenging day by day. For this, it is essential to understand the distribution, habitat, and impact of anthropogenic activities on animals at risk. We assessed the suitable habitats and anthropogenic impacts on Asiatic black bears, common leopards, musk deer, and snow leopards in and outside the protected areas of Gandaki Province, Nepal. Methods We collected the presence locations of Asiatic black bears, common leopards, musk deer, and snow leopards based on scats and other signs. We employed the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) tool to identify suitable habitats of our studied species and their anthropogenic impacts on them. Results The total suitable habitat of the common leopard was found to be 6,052 km.sup.2 , followed by the Asiatic black bear (5,819 km.sup.2 ), snow leopard (4,447 km.sup.2 ), and musk deer (1,690 km.sup.2 ) in Gandaki Province. Most of the areas of suitable habitat for common leopards and Asiatic black bears were outside the protected areas, and for musk deer and snow leopards were inside the protected areas. Elevation was the most important variable determining habitat suitability of Asiatic black bear, common leopard, and musk deer, whereas the distance to water was the most important variable determining habitat suitability of snow leopard. Asiatic black bears, common leopards, and musk deer face significant anthropogenic impacts, but snow leopards face some anthropogenic impacts. Conclusion Managing these animals' habitats inside and outside protected areas is essential. Hence, biodiversity conservation and livelihood opportunities should be balanced in the Himalayas on a win-win basis.