DENSITY OF HOG DEER (Axis porcinus) IN JALDAPARA AND GORUMARA PROTECTED AREAS OF HIMALAYAN WEST BENGAL

摘要

CUES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) classifies the hog deer (Axis porcinus) as a 'threatened' wildlife species in India. It is distributed along the Himalayan foothills of the north to the eastern part from Punjab to Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur (Prater, 1998). The animal has suffered a long history of decline due to the twin destructive forces of fragmentation of habitats (Bhowmik et al., 1999) and hunting which threaten the species in the wild today (Pearl, 1991). In sub-Himalayan West Bengal, the status and distribution of the hog deer population were reported on only in Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary and Gorumara National Park, which have grassland coverings of 96.04 and 6.5 km~2 respectively (Anon, 1996; Bhowmik and Chakraborty, 1999). However, the population density is still unknown, and therefore a survey was undertaken from June to November 1998 to estimate the population status and group sizes of animals to help formulate conservation plans to protect the species in the region.