Caprines (including goats and sheep)

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Information regarding Burmese/Red serows in Bangladesh

From 'Occurrence and temporal activity pattern of Burmese Red Serow (Capricornis rubidus, Bovidae) in Baraiyadhala National Park, Bangladesh: insights from a camera trapping study' LINK Authors: Dr Kamrul Hasan & Ashis Kumar Dutta, Jahangirnagar University, Department of Zoology.

Abstract

No single studies on the Burmese Red Serows, a little known bovid to date yet considered as nationally endangered species, have been conducted in Bangladesh. As part of a systematic wildlife inventory and monitoring project, this study utilized 48 camera traps to elucidate their occurrence, activity pattern and possible sympatric association with other artiodactyls species inhabiting Baraiyadhala National Park. The study found 25 independent serow events with relative abundance index (RAI) of 0.89. The number of individuals seems low, but this is by far the country’s stronghold population. The Red Serows are mostly nocturnal and showed moderate temporal activity with barking dear (Δ1 = 0.59) and wild boar (Δ1 = 0.62) in this area. Anthropogenic pressures due to tourists (RAI = 4.8) and poachers (RAI = 1.7) were highly evident and must have negative impact on overall wildlife of the national park. The study suggests similar studies in adjacent protected area (Hazarikhil Wildlife Sanctuary), habitat protection and restoration program, and awareness raising program targeting forest dependent communities for long term conservation of this species.

Important information:

Introduction

"The Red Serow is a globally vulnerable bovid (Shepherd 2022) and very little is known about its population status, behavioral ecology, and habitat use pattern in most of the countries that make up its range. Bangladesh is no exception, and so far, it has only handful and sporadic appearances from mixed evergreen forests of the Chittagong Hill Tracts and the mixed evergreen forests of transboundary northeastern regions and is regarded as nationally endangered species (IUCN Bangladesh 2015; Khan 2018)."

"In recent times, with the advancement of camera trapping studies, there have been few reports of Red Serows from northeast region and Chittagong Hill Tracts. However, our understanding of its overall population, activity pattern, habitat use pattern with other sympatric species, and threats is still very limited. In this study, we did not attempt to address the issues with serow classification; rather, we reported on a population that had not been studied before in order to precise its relative abundance, activity patterns and co-occurrence with other ungulates."

Results & Discussion

"We obtained 25 serow events captured from 11 spatially distinct locations with an effort of 2793 camera trap nights (Figure 2). Four female and 11 male serows were recognized from the photographs however, it was not certain which sexes the other ten individuals belonged to. All detections consisted of a single serow, apart from two incidents that entailed two individuals. About 65 % of detections (15 events) were in steep hilly habitats and the rest were in forest floor."

"Although our study was confined to the BNP, we propose conducting a comparable investigation in adjoining Hazarikhill Wildlife Sanctuary, which has long been recognized as a serow habitat by local people and forest department staffs but has yet to initiate a systematic camera trapping study. Baraiyadhala National Park (2933.61 ha) and adjacent Hazarikhill Wildlife Sanctuary (1177.53 ha), Sitakunda Ecopark and Botanical Garden (808 ha) altogether can be considered as a wider landscape for conserving existing wildlife, specially serow population. Since the ecological state in this area is favorable for serows, strict hunting restrictions, community awareness and restoration programs to improve the denuded forests could be worthwhile as initial efforts."

"Our study confirmed at least 25 individuals of Burmese Red Serow from BNP. The small number of detections (RAI = 0.82) of the Red Serow suggests that this species likely occurs at a low density in the study area. The local community people living nearby, and national park officials also reported similar perceptions on the occurrence of this species. Our camera trapped photos identified 49 individual poachers, which indicates intense hunting pressures for wildlife in this area. We speculated that Barking Deer, Serow, Wild Boar, Jungle Fowls, and pheasants are some of the targeted species."

[Study area and camera trap sites, indicating camera trap sites with Burmese Red Serow detection and sites where serows were not detected]

*This image is copyright of its original author

[Camera trapped photo of Red Serow from the study area. The top image depicts an adult and a juvenile, and the bottom image is of an adult male]

*This image is copyright of its original author

[Temporal activity pattern and overlap estimates for focal species Burmese Red Serow and sympatric Barking Deer and Wild Boar]

*This image is copyright of its original author

Key points and information derived plus a simplification:

• Little is understood about the biology of Red serows across their range
• The Chittagong and Northeast regions of Bangladesh are biodiversity hotspots
• Poaching and hunting are the main threats to the Serows
• The Baraiyadhala National Park is the stronghold of Bangladesh regarding the population of serows
• Poaching is a huge problem for the biodiversity of the whole world
  

Camera trap images of Red serows in Bangladesh. Courtesy of Dr Kamrul Hasan. The Sources.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

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