Habitat and feeding ecology of alpine musk deer (Moschus chrysogaster) in Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttarakhand, India

The alpine musk deer, Moschus chrysogaster, a small member of family Moschidae, is a primitive deer threatened due to poaching and habitat loss, and therefore classified as Endangered by IUCN and also listed in Appendix I of CITES. Although the species is legally protected in India under Wildlife Protection Act 1972, conservation of the species requires better understanding of its distribution and resource-use pattern; therefore, a study on its feeding and habitat ecology was conducted from February 2011 to February 2014, at Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is one of the known remaining habitats for musk deer in India. Four locations, namely, Shokhark I, Shokhark II, Tungnath and Chandrashila, were intensively monitored and further categorised on the basis of habitats and altitudinal gradient. The habitat overlap between musk deer and all other ungulate species of the area was calculated through Pianka’s overlap index. The results indicated a large overlap between musk deer and Himalayan tahr. Species dietary spectra were studied using microhistological techniques for faecal pellet-group analysis coupled with Bonferroni approach. The dicotyledon to monocotyledon ratios were found to be 73.62–26.38% and 52.016– 47.984% in the pre- and post-monsoon seasons, respectively. The study showed that the musk deer is predominantly a browser. The most preferred plant species of the animals were found to be Gaultheria trichophylla, Ophiopogon intermedius., Cyperus sp. and Sibbaldia cuneata. During the field survey, opportunistic sightings of the species were also recorded. The species was found to be restricted to areas where the density of preferred vegetation was high. Therefore, it is recommended to provide strict protection to the areas such as Shokhark.