Local communities perception of anthropogenic threats to the habitat and population of barking deer (Muntiacus veginalis) in Murree-Kotli Sattian-Kahuta National Park District Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan
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Local communities perception of anthropogenic threats to the habitat and population of barking deer (Muntiacus veginalis) in Murree-Kotli Sattian-Kahuta National Park District Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan
Abstract
To assess distribution, abundance and anthropogenic threats to habitat and population of barking deer (muntiacus veginalis), a social survey was conducted in Murree-Kotli Sattian-Kahuta National Park (Pakistan) from August 2015 to November 2017. 600 questionnaires filled from three zones by local community, Forest and Wildlife Department and hunters to gather information on the major threats to barking deer in National Park. The interviewees were given 3 sets of questions and most data was presented as percent interviewees in a certain response category, where multiple responses were permitted to a single question. Barking deer categorized as Endangered in Pakistan on the 2015 IUCN Red List, threatened due to habitat loss (illegal and commercial logging) for domestic and international markets. Wild olive (Olea ferruginea), pine (Pinus roxburghii) and Acacia spp are mostly removed from the habitat of barking deer. Chi Square tests (SPSS 21) were conducted using a level of 0.05 to test any significant differences of three zones with anthropogenic activities. As forest area and barking deer population is decreasing over time so human hunting and deforestation emerged as principal threats to species across sites. Habitat degradation and poaching by livestock were the other threats to the conservation of barking deer in the study area. Although the area of Murree-Kotli Sattian-Kahuta has been declared as protected but elimination of hunting, strengthening the management of existing protected areas (PA) and involvement of local communities are recommended for long-term conservation of barking deer.
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