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

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.

Predicting suitable habitat of swamp deer () across the Western Terai Arc Landscape of Nepal.

Over the last few years, intensifying human impact and the deterioration of natural habitats have severely restricted the global distribution of large herbivores. commonly recognized as the swamp deer, is a habitat-specialist endemic large herbivore of the Indian Subcontinent. It is classified as vulnerable by the IUCN and listed in CITES Appendix I due to a steep decline in its population, which is primarily due to anthropogenic causes.

Potential risk zone for anthropogenic mortality of carnivores in Gandaki Province, Nepal.

Anthropogenic pressures in human-dominated landscapes often contribute to wildlife mortality. Carnivores are especially vulnerable to human-induced mortality due to the perceived threat to livestock and humans. Despite having widespread conservation implications, carnivore mortality data have been largely underutilized within Nepal.

Factors influencing the global distribution of the endangered Egyptian vulture.

Vultures are ecologically important primarily because of their scavenging role in cleaning carcasses of the environment. Because of anthropogenic impacts, the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) has suffered catastrophic declines in parts of its range and, thus, information about its global distribution and factors influencing its occurrence within this range are essential for its conservation. To this end, we estimated the global distribution of Egyptian vulture and variables related to this distribution.

Factors affecting livestock depredation by snow leopards () in the Himalayan region of Nepal.

The snow leopard () found in central Asia is classified as vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Every year, large number of livestock are killed by snow leopards in Nepal, leading to economic loss to local communities and making human-snow leopard conflict a major threat to snow leopard conservation. We conducted formal and informal stakeholder's interviews to gather information related to livestock depredation with the aim to map the attack sites by the snow leopard.

Ecological status of a freshwater tectonic lake of the indo-burmese province: Implications for livelihood development.

Tectonic lakes are among the most geologically fascinating and environmentally versatile hydrobiological systems found on the earth's surface. We conducted a study on the limnology of Tasek Lake, a tectonic lake located in the Indo-Burma Province of the South Asian region. Physico-chemical parameters of the lake's water along with its plankton were considered for the study.

Suitable habitat of wild Asian elephant in Western Terai of Nepal.

Background: There is currently very little available research on the habitat suitability, the influence of infrastructure on distribution, and the extent and connectivity of habitat available to the wild Asian elephant (). Information related to the habitat is crucial for conservation of this species.

Methods: In this study, we identified suitable habitat for wild Asian elephants in the Western Terai region of Nepal using Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) software.

An assessment of human impacts on endangered red pandas () living in the Himalaya.

Anthropogenic factors play an important role in shaping the distribution of wildlife species and their habitats, and understanding the influence of human activities on endangered species can be key to improving conservation efforts as well as the implementation of national strategies for sustainable development. Here, we used species distribution modeling to assess human impacts on the endangered red panda () in high-altitude regions of Nepal. We found that the distance to paths (tracks used by people and animals), livestock density, human population density, and annual mean temperature were the most important factors determining the habitat suitability for red pandas in Nepal.

Diet and macronutrient niche of Asiatic black bear () in two regions of Nepal during summer and autumn.

Relatively little is known about the nutritional ecology of omnivorous Asiatic black bears () in Nepal. We characterized the diet of black bears in two seasons (June-July, "summer"; and October-November "autumn") and two study areas (Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve [DHR]; and Kailash Sacred Landscape [KSL]). We then conducted nutritional analysis of species consumed by black bears in each study area, in combination with nutritional estimates from the literature, to estimate the proportions of macronutrients (i.

Habitat overlap between Asiatic black bear Ursus thibetanus and red panda Ailurus fulgens in Himalaya.

Studying habitat overlap between sympatric species is one of the best ways to identify interspecies relationships and to direct conservation efforts so that multiple species can benefit. However, studies exploring interspecies relationships are very limited in Nepal, making it difficult for the government of Nepal and conservation partners to manage wildlife in their habitats, especially in Himalayan protected areas. In this study, we identified habitat overlap between Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) and red panda (Ailurus fulgens) as well as important habitat types for both species in the Makalu Barun National Park, Nepal using Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) modeling.

Dry season diet composition of four-horned antelope in tropical dry deciduous forests, Nepal.

It is essential to assess the feeding strategies of threatened species during resource-scarce seasons to understand their dietary niche breadth and inform appropriate habitat management measures. In this study, we examined the diet composition of four-horned antelope (FHA) and , one of the least studied ungulate species, in Banke National Park, Nepal. A total of 53 fresh pellet groups were collected between December 2015 and January 2016 and analyzed using micro-histological fecal analysis technique.

Large anthropogenic impacts on a charismatic small carnivore: Insights from distribution surveys of red panda Ailurus fulgens in Nepal.

Protected areas are key to preserving biodiversity and maintaining ecosystem services. However, their ability to ensure long-term survival of threatened andendangered species varies across countries, regions and landscapes. Distribution surveys can beparticularly important for assessing the value of protected areas, and gauging their efficacy incatering to species-specific requirements.

Diet and nutrient balance of red panda in Nepal.

We identified the winter plant species consumed by red panda in the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve of eastern Nepal and compared this to the early-summer diet which was determined previously by Panthi et al. (2012). In addition, we estimated the proximate nutritional content of the leaves identified in red panda diet for both seasons, and we used nutritional geometry to explore macronutrient balance of leaves from the two different sampling periods.