DOI: 10.5061/dryad.2jm63xszp
title: Data from: Tigers, terrain, and human settlement influence the occupancy of leopards (Panthera pardus) in southwestern Tarai, Nepal

description: Maintaining a healthy population of common leopards, a highly adaptive
 felid, requires updated information on their spatial occurrence. In
 Nepal's Tarai region, leopards coexist with tigers, which is a
 well-studied felid throughout its range. However, knowledge is very scarce
 on the occupancy of leopards and its influencing factors. We carried out a
 camera-trap occupancy survey in southwestern tarai particularly in
 Shuklaphanta National Park, Nepal, to assess habitat use by leopards from
 December 2022 to January 2023. The naïve occupancy was 0.51. The
 model-averaged occupancy estimate for the leopard was 74 %. The best
 fitting model included tiger presence as an explanatory covariate for the
 detection component, i.e., detection probability of leopard was lower
 where tigers were present. The occupancy component of the best-fitting
 model included distance to human settlement and higher in terrain
 ruggedness. Leopard occupancy was higher closer to human settlement and
 higher in rugged terrain. At a time when Nepal has achieved its tiger
 conservation targets, efforts are required to maintain adequate prey
 biomass to minimize fatal encounters between tigers and leopards and
 displacement of leopards in fringe areas where villagers might kill them
 in retaliation of livestock killing. Long-term monitoring is required to
 improve understanding of the interaction between leopards, tigers, and
 humans in the Tarai region of Nepal.
description: A comprehensive tiger and prey base monitoring was conducted
 during December 2022 and January 2023 in the entire 305
 km<sup>2</sup> of ShNP based on the tiger monitoring protocol
 of Nepal 2017 (DNPWC, 2017). The survey employed a total of 92 survey grid
 cells (see Figure 1), each measuring 4 km<sup>2</sup> (2 km ×
 2 km). Panthera V5 and V6 automated cameras were systematically placed in
 pairs in strategic locations preferably on dirt road, fire lines, dry
 riverbeds, and animal trails to maximize the detectability of tiger
 (Karanth et al., 2011). The camera traps were positioned between 45 cm and
 60 cm above the ground, and they were deployed for 15-19 nights in each of
 the grid cells. Each camera trap was set to take three pictures per
 trigger with no delay (FAP mode) using white flash. These cameras were
 checked every morning to observe and document any tigers and leopards or
 other species captured during the previous night. The survey was targeted
 for the tiger monitoring but as they used similar path, we extracted the
 data of leopard from the same camera locations.
description: # Tigers, terrain, and human settlement influence the occupancy of
 leopards (Panthera pardus) in southwestern Tarai, Nepal
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2jm63xszp](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2jm63xszp) ## Description of the data and file structure Tiger and prey monitoring was conducted in ShNP from December 2022 to January 2023, covering 305 km² following Nepal's 2017 protocol (DNPWC, 2017). Ninety-two 4 km² grid cells (see Figure 1) were surveyed using paired Panthera V5 and V6 cameras placed along roads, fire lines, riverbeds, and trails for optimal tiger detection (Karanth et al., 2011). Cameras were set 45-60 cm above the ground and operated for 15-19 nights per grid cell, capturing three images per trigger (FAP mode) with white flash. Daily checks documented tigers, leopards, and other species. Leopard data was also collected from the same locations. The data has 11 columns Grid ID; OC1; OC2; OC3; C4; disthuman; distriver; terrain; det_tiger; det_prey; det_livestock ### Files and variables #### File: 4-5-2024-leo\_cov\_v1.csv **Description:**  ##### Variables * Grid ID: ID of the grid where we deployed the camera traps * OC1: Detection history of leopard within the first 4 days.  * OC2: Detection history of the leopard within the next 4 days. * OC3: Detection history of the leopard within the next 4 days. * OC4: Detection history of leopard in the last 4 days. * disthuman: Distance to human settlement from the camera traps in meter * distriver: Distance to river (water sources) from the camera traps in meter * terrain: Terrain Rugged Indes (TRI) of the grid * det_tiger: RAI of the tiger within the grid * det_prey: RAI of the prey base within the grid * det_livestock: RAI of the livestock within the grid