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News: A report flags tiger-human conflict risk as prey base (ungulates) shrinks in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
About Ungulates
- Ungulates are hoofed mammals that walk on their toes.
- The word ungulate comes from the Latin word “unguis” which means nail, claw or hoof.
- Division: They are divided into two classes:
- Even-toed ungulates such as deer, giraffe, antelopes
- Odd-toed ungulates such as horses, zebras and rhinoceroses.
- Importance: Ungulates form the bulk of a tiger’s diet and are also critical to the forest ecosystem.
- Threats: They are facing increasing pressure from loss of habitat due to deforestation, development, agricultural expansion, urbanisation, human-wildlife conflict, and subsistence hunting.
Report on Ungulates and key findings
- It is a first-of-its-kind assessment of ungulates conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), using data from India’s 2022 tiger census.
- Key findings
- A density of 30 ungulates per square km can support four tigers in 100 square
- Tiger numbers may rise with prey density, but plateau at about 75 ungulates per sq km due to ecological constraints such as territoriality, competition and lack of habitat connectivity.
- Among the tiger reserves, Pench in Madhya Pradesh has one of the highest chital densities — nearly 54 per sq km.
- There is a direct link between low prey numbers and human-wildlife conflict.
