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Free-ranging dogs are seriously threatening Himalayan environment: delineating the high-risk areas for curbing free-ranging dog infestation in the Trans-Himalayan region

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Abstract

It is becoming more widely recognised that free-ranging dogs, which have a nearly global distribution, threatening native wildlife. Their increasing population and spread to new areas is of growing concern for the long-term viability of wildlife species. Hence, it is imperative to understand the factors responsible for their infestation and map areas where native species are most vulnerable. Using the random forests algorithm, we modelled the free-ranging dog infestation in the Trans-Himalayan region to pinpoint the high-risk areas where free-ranging dogs are threatening the native wildlife species. We found that the likelihood of free-ranging dog occurrence is most in valley regions and up to 4000 m, often in proximity to roads. Our results also indicated that free-ranging dog prefers areas with wildlife near to protected areas. The predictor variables, such as potential evapotranspiration of the coldest quarter, distance to protected areas, elevation, distance to roads, and potential evapotranspiration of the driest quarter, significantly influence the distribution of the free-ranging dogs. We found that within the Ladakh region of the Trans-Himalayan area, the high-risk zones for free-ranging dogs are located in and around Hemis National Park, Karakoram Wildlife Sanctuary, and Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary. While, in the Lahaul and Spiti region the high-risk areas encompass Pin Valley National Park, Inderkilla National Park, Khirganga National Park, Kugti Wildlife Sanctuary, and several other protected areas. We identified the potentially high-risk areas for implementing strategies to mitigate the possible impact of free-ranging dogs on native wildlife of the Himalayas. Hence, the identified high priority areas can be used for implementing actions for controlling the population growth and further preventing the infestation of the free-ranging dogs into the new areas.

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Acknowledgements

Our gratitude towards the PCCF and Chief wildlife wardens of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir for granting permission. We are also thankful to DFO and other forest officials of the region. The authors are grateful to the Director Zoological Survey of India for providing logistic support. Furthermore, we acknowledge the assistance of the project field team during surveys.

Funding

The authors acknowledge the National Mission for Himalayan Studies, Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Government of India for the funding support under Grant No. NMHS/2017-18/LG09/ 02 and the Secure Himalaya project, Forest Department of Himachal Pradesh

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700053, India

    Shahid Ahmad Dar, Amira Sharief, Vineet Kumar, Hemant Singh, Bheem Dutt Joshi, Saurav Bhattacharjee, Ritam Dutta, Stanzin Dolker, Amar Paul Singh, Vinaya Kumar Singh, Mukesh Thakur & Lalit Kumar Sharma

  2. Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, 248001, India

    Amira Sharief & Vineet Kumar

  3. WSL Swiss Federal Research Institute, 8903, Zurcherstrasse, Switzerland

    Amira Sharief

  4. High Altitude Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, 173211, India

    Avtar Kaur Sidhu

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  1. Shahid Ahmad Dar
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Contributions

Shahid Ahmad Dar, Amira Sharief, Bheem Dutt Joshi, Lalit Kumar Sharma conceived the idea. Amira Sharief, Vineet Kumar, Hemant Singh, Shahid Ahmad Dar, Vinay Kumar, Amar Paul Singh, Stanzin Dolker, Saurav Bhattacharjee conducted field survey. Shahid Ahmad Dar, Amira Sharief, Bheem Dutt Joshi performed the analysis. Shahid Ahmad Dar, Amira Sharief, Bheem Dutt Joshi, Ritam Dutta, Vineet Kumar, Saurav Bhattacharjee, Stanzin Dolker, Amar Paul Singh, Vinay Kumar worked for the spatial data preparation. Shahid Ahmad Dar, Amira Sharief, Bheem Dutt Joshi, Lalit Kumar Sharma wrote the manuscript. Lalit Kumar Sharma, Bheem Dutt Joshi, Mukesh Thakur edited the manuscript. Lalit Kumar Sharma provided the logistic support and supervised the study.

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Dar, S.A., Sharief, A., Kumar, V. et al. Free-ranging dogs are seriously threatening Himalayan environment: delineating the high-risk areas for curbing free-ranging dog infestation in the Trans-Himalayan region. Environ Monit Assess 195, 1386 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-023-11972-6

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