A preliminary study on relative abundance of wild mammals based on camera trap in Balaram-Ambaji Wildlife Sanctuary, Gujarat State, India

Knowledge of the occurrence and distribution of terrestrial mammals is imperative in the design of conservation strategies in protected areas. There is a lack of information available on the occurrence and abundance of wild mammals in the Balaram-Ambaji Wildlife Sanctuary, Gujarat of India. Thus, the present study was carried out to understand the relative abundance of the wild mammalian species in the Balaram-Ambaji Wildlife Sanctuary via camera trapping. We used day/night camera traps to record the presence of diurnal and nocturnal mammals in the Balaram-Ambaji Wildlife Sanctuary. We plotted 11 cameras near water bodies for 20 days from 6 January 2020 to 26 January 2020. A total of 268 photographs of wild animals were captured. Among the photos 13 wild mammalian species were identified, including the Rusty-spotted cat Prionailurus rubiginosus (I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire), which is reported for the first time in this area. The Relative Abundance Index (RAI) of each identified species was calculated to understand the species richness, providing baseline data for species occupancy.