Abundance and habitat suitability model for Ratel (Mellivora capensis) in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Western India.

The honey badger, or ratel Mellivora capensis has not been well studied and very little information is available on its population and habitat use. We used occupancy based technique and binary logistic regression to assess the abundance and habitat suitability for ratel in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, Western India between November 2007 to June 2009. In total, 100 trapping stations were sampled for 25 days resulting into total effort of 2500 trapping nights. The 100 trapping stations covered an area of 95.99 km2 (MCP). Presence/ absence data was gathered through camera trap photographs in two seasons, winter and summer. The density of ratel was found to be 5.48 ± 4.33 animals/ 100 km2 in summer and 6.43 ± 2.79 animals/ 100 km2 in winter. Two sample t test revealed no significant difference in the abundance of ratel between seasons (t=1.493, df=8, P=0.173). Binary logistic regression analysis revealed overall prediction accuracy for depicting the ratel presence in the intensive study area was 64.8%. Elevation, closeness to water and Zizyphus mixed forest was found to contribute positively for the prediction of suitable habitat for ratel in the intensive study area. Comparatively, very less area was found as medium and high suitable areas for this species.