TY - JOUR
T1 - Science deficiency in conservation practice
T2 - The monitoring of tiger populations in India
AU - Karanth, K. Ullas
AU - Nichols, James D.
AU - Seidensticker, John
AU - Dinerstein, Eric
AU - Smith, James L.David
AU - McDougal, Charles
AU - Johnsingh, A. J.T.
AU - Chundawat, Raghunandan S.
AU - Thapar, Valmik
PY - 2003/5
Y1 - 2003/5
N2 - Conservation practices are supposed to get refined by advancing scientific knowledge. We study this phenomenon in the context of monitoring tiger populations in India, by evaluating the 'pugmark census method' employed by wildlife managers for three decades. We use an analytical framework of modern animal population sampling to test the efficacy of the pugmark censuses using scientific data on tigers and our field observations. We identify three critical goals for monitoring tiger populations, in order of increasing sophistication: (1) distribution mapping, (2) tracking relative abundance, (3) estimation of absolute abundance. We demonstrate that the present census-based paradigm does not work because it ignores the first two simpler goals, and targets, but fails to achieve, the most difficult third goal. We point out the utility and ready availability of alternative monitoring paradigms that deal with the central problems of spatial sampling and observability. We propose an alternative sampling-based approach that can be tailored to meet practical needs of tiger monitoring at different levels of refinement.
AB - Conservation practices are supposed to get refined by advancing scientific knowledge. We study this phenomenon in the context of monitoring tiger populations in India, by evaluating the 'pugmark census method' employed by wildlife managers for three decades. We use an analytical framework of modern animal population sampling to test the efficacy of the pugmark censuses using scientific data on tigers and our field observations. We identify three critical goals for monitoring tiger populations, in order of increasing sophistication: (1) distribution mapping, (2) tracking relative abundance, (3) estimation of absolute abundance. We demonstrate that the present census-based paradigm does not work because it ignores the first two simpler goals, and targets, but fails to achieve, the most difficult third goal. We point out the utility and ready availability of alternative monitoring paradigms that deal with the central problems of spatial sampling and observability. We propose an alternative sampling-based approach that can be tailored to meet practical needs of tiger monitoring at different levels of refinement.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/2942537054
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/2942537054#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1017/S1367943003003184
DO - 10.1017/S1367943003003184
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:2942537054
SN - 1367-9430
VL - 6
SP - 141
EP - 146
JO - Animal Conservation
JF - Animal Conservation
IS - 2
ER -
