Journal of Threatened
Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 June 2026 | 18(6): 29146–29149
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.10090.18.6.29146-29149
#10090 | Received 16 August 2025 | Final received 05 February 2026|
Finally accepted 07 May 2026
First camera-trap records of
three wild carnivores from Corbett Tiger Reserve, India
Mridula 1 , Kamakshi S. Tanwar 2 , Anurag Nashirabadkar
3 , Sudip Banerjee 4 ,
Anindita Bidisha
Chatterjee 5 , Shikha Bisht 6 & Yadvendradev
V. Jhala 7
1,2,3,4,6,7 Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248001, India.
5 National Tiger Conservation
Authority, New Delhi 110003, India.
1 mridula379@gmail.com, 2 kamakshitanwarbanethi@gmail.com
(corresponding author), 3 anuragnashirabadkar@gmail.com, 4 sudipba1@gmail.com,
5 aninditabidisha1@gmail.com, 6 shikhabisht1@gmail.com, 7
yvjhala@gmail.com
Editor: Bhargavi Srinivasulu,
Zoo Outreach Organisation, Hyderabad, Telangana,
India. Date of publication: 26 June 2026 (online &
print)
Citation: Mridula, K.S. Tanwar, A. Nashirabadkar, S. Banerjee, A.B. Chatterjee, S. Bisht &
Y.V. Jhala (2026). First camera-trap records
of three wild carnivores from Corbett Tiger Reserve, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 18(6): 29146–29149. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.10090.18.6.29146-29149
Copyright: © Mridula et al. 2026. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use,
reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium by providing
adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: Uttarakhand State Forest Department and National Tiger Conservation Authority.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgments: We would like to acknowledge Qamar Qureshi, V.B. Mathur and Virendra Tiwari from Wildlife Institute of India; Satyaprakash Yadav, Anup Nayak, Amit Mallick, Nishant Verma, Rajendra Garawad, Vaibhav C. Mathur, and Hemant Singh from National Tiger Conservation Authority; and Surendra Mehra, D.V.S. Khati, Samir Sinha, Dhananjay Mohan, Ranjan Mishra, Sanatan, Parag Dakate, Amit Verma, Rahul, Naresh Kumar, Dheeraj Pandey, and Saket Badola from Uttarakhand State Forest Department. We also thank AITE 2018 and 2022 researchers and field staff who worked in Corbett Tiger Reserve.
Global environmental changes
driven by land use and climate change are causing shifts in species
distributions, leading to shrinking and fragmented ranges (Schipper et al.
2008). Anthropogenic pressures and competition from invasive species cause
habitat loss contributing to species extinctions and biodiversity loss
(Ceballos et al. 2015). Certain species are more vulnerable to such local
extinctions owing to their inherent biological traits like reproductive rate,
habitat specialization, body size, and geographic range (Cardillo et al. 2008).
Canids are one such group that are affected by urbanization and climate change,
where some species may expand their ranges while others may contract due to
differences in their climatic tolerance, behavioural
flexibility, and habitat specialization (Filazzola et
al. 2024). For instance, Indian Foxes Vulpes bengalensis
are predicted to experience range contraction, while the range of Red Foxes Vulpes
vulpes might expand owing to differences in their
climatic tolerance (Porto et al. 2024).
The Indian Fox, or Bengal Fox, is
a medium-sized canid endemic to the Indian subcontinent, preferring semiarid
flats, grasslands, scrub, and dry deciduous forests (Gompper
& Vanak 2006), and present in varying densities
across its range (Home & Jhala 2010; Kumara & Singh 2012). In contrast, the Red Fox is a
widespread generalist, found in both natural and human-dominated landscapes
(Hoffmann & Sillero-Zubiri 2021), with a range
extending across the Himalaya and deserts in India (Ghoshal et al. 2016). The
Striped Hyena Hyaena hyaena, a nocturnal
scavenger distributed in arid and semi-arid regions south of the Himalaya
(Menon 2014), feeds mainly on carcasses but occasionally preys on live animals
(Prater 1971; Alam & Khan 2015). Despite their
dog-like appearance, hyenas are classified within the Feliformia
suborder on the basis of their cranial, dental, and other anatomical features
and are placed in the distinct family Hyaenidae (Agnarsson et al. 2010).
Major threats to these species
include habitat loss, fragmentation, urbanization, and competition from
free-ranging dogs (Macdonald & Reynolds 2004; Vanak
& Gompper 2010; Bhandari et al. 2021). The Striped
Hyena is also declining due to persecution, habitat destruction, and reduced
food availability, partly because of the decline of sympatric carnivores whose
kills they scavenge (Alam et al. 2015).
The study area, Corbett Tiger
Reserve (hereafter CTR), is situated within the ecologically significant Bhabar-Terai belt, a transitional zone between the
Himalayan foothills and the Indo-Gangetic plains, in Uttarakhand. It covers an
area of 1,288.32 km², with an altitude ranging from 280–1,138 m. Temperatures
vary from 23–46 0C in summer and 4–21 0C in winters.
Annual rainfall varies from 1,400–2,800 mm, depending on altitude and
topography. The climate is tropical, characterized by three distinct seasons:
summer, monsoon, and winter. Vegetation of CTR consists of dry and moist
deciduous forest, riverine forest, mixed or miscellaneous forest, alluvial
grassland, open scrub and plantation. Three major types of forest are
classified according to Champion & Seth (1968) namely, northern moist
deciduous (3C), northern tropical dry deciduous (5B), and Himalayan subtropical
pine forest. The Park is enriched with perennial water streams that support a
thriving diversity of fauna.
As part of the All-India Tiger
estimation exercise, camera trapping was carried out in CTR from October 2018
to March 2019 and from October 2021 to June 2022. Camera traps were deployed
along trails at 520 and 514 locations, respectively, within 2 km² grid cells to
maximize detections for tigers and leopards (Jhala et
al. 2020; Qureshi et al. 2023). Cameras were placed in pairs
facing each other on either side of the trails, and were run for an average of
54 days, resulting in an effort of 28,438 days in 2018–19 and for 70 days on
average, constituting an effort of 36,407 days in 2022 (Jhala
et al. 2020; Qureshi et al. 2023). On 11 January 2019, a Striped
Hyena was photo-captured for the first time in CTR through camera traps.
Subsequently, a Red Fox was recorded on 18 January 2019, followed by an Indian
Fox on 13 February 2022, their first confirmed records in CTR through
camera-trapping efforts. Hyena captures were recorded from seven camera-trap
locations, but no subsequent captures were recorded during the 2021–2022 survey
(Table 1, Image 1). Red Fox had singular captures in both 2019 and 2022 (Table
1, Image 1). The Indian Fox was photo-captured a total
of four times from different locations in 2022 (Table 1, Image 1). Continued
monitoring is essential to determine the status and activity of these transient
species.
Sighting records such as those
made during the present study are important as they expand the known range of
these species, providing insights into their adaptability and highlighting the
habitat suitability of CTR, which is primarily known for its tiger population.
The presence of tigers and leopards in high densities in CTR (Jhala et al. 2020) may also influence how mesopredators use the landscape, as apex predators are
known to shape the spatial distribution, habitat use, and activity patterns of
smaller carnivores through interference competition and risk avoidance (Ritchie
& Johnson 2009; Ripple et al. 2014). Such observations emphasise
the utility of data from targeted camera trap surveys in revealing the presence
of lesser-studied species. These findings could significantly influence
management and conservation strategies by promoting a more comprehensive
approach that considers a multi-species perspective. This approach could lead
to enhanced biodiversity monitoring programs and targeted studies on the
interactions, population dynamics, and habitat requirements of these species.
Table 1. Detailed information on the location
of first records of Indian
Fox Vulpes bengalensis,
Red Fox Vulpes vulpes, and Striped Hyena Hyaena
hyaena in Corbett Tiger
Reserve, Uttarakhand, India.
|
|
Year |
Date |
Time |
Vegetation type |
Elevation (m) |
Distance from settlement (m) |
|
Species: Indian Fox Vulpes bengalensis (Least Concern) |
||||||
|
Capture 1 |
2022 |
13.ii.2022 |
1231 h |
Khair Sissoo Forest |
290 |
1,346 |
|
Capture 2 |
2022 |
27.ii.2022 |
0154 h |
Moist Siwalik Saal Forest |
756 |
1,774 |
|
Capture 3 |
2022 |
11.iii.2022 |
1946 h |
Moist Siwalik Saal Forest |
839 |
1,976 |
|
Capture 4 |
2022 |
11.iii.2022 |
0831 h |
Moist Siwalik Saal Forest |
506 |
3,488 |
|
Species: Red Fox Vulpes vulpes (Least Concern) |
||||||
|
Capture 1 |
2019 |
18.i.2019 |
2209 h |
Dry deciduous scrub |
313 |
1,538 |
|
Capture 2 |
2022 |
19.iii.2022 |
0130 h |
Moist Siwalik Saal Forest |
393 |
3,596 |
|
Species: Striped Hyena Hyaena hyaena (Near Threatened) |
||||||
|
Capture 1 |
2019 |
11.i.2019 |
2306 h |
Dry Deciduous Scrub |
402 |
8,926 |
|
Capture 2 |
2019 |
11.i.2019 |
2039 h |
Moist Mixed Deciduous |
375 |
10,058 |
|
Capture 3 |
2019 |
11.i.2019 |
2253 h |
Dry Deciduous Scrub |
395 |
9,121 |
|
Capture 4 |
2019 |
11.i.2019 |
2230 h |
Dry Deciduous Scrub |
384 |
9,377 |
|
Capture 5 |
2019 |
12.i.2019 |
1225 h |
Moist Siwalik Sal |
369 |
8,391 |
|
Capture 6 |
2019 |
17.i.2019 |
1758 h |
Plantation |
294 |
732 |
|
Capture 7 |
2019 |
26.ii.2019 |
1207 h |
Moist Siwalik Sal |
353 |
1,940 |
For image
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