Rest to roam: behavioural adaptations of tigers in anthropogenically altered landscapes

Large carnivores in human-dominated landscapes face significant risks from increased anthropogenic pressure, making it crucial to understand their movement behaviour for conservation strategies.

We used conventional and generalised hidden Markov models (HMMs) to analyse GPS telemetry data collected from 2016 to 2022 on 15 subadult tigers to classify behavioural states across three life stages (pre-dispersal, dispersal, post-dispersal) in the Eastern Vidarbha Landscape, India. We further examined how intrinsic and extrinsic factors influenced transitions between these behavioural states.

Three distinct behavioural states were identified: resting (stationary movement with very short step lengths), area-restricted movement (tortuous movement with short to intermediate step lengths), and travelling (highly directional movement with long step lengths). During the pre-dispersal phase, tigers displayed exploratory movement within their natal range, with significant emphasis on area-restricted movement (42.10%), followed by travelling (30.47%), and resting (27.42%). Travelling peaked at dusk and showed the highest probability of occurrence throughout the night until dawn and exhibited faster movement in areas with high human density. Area-restricted movement was most frequent during the day and peaked between 09:00-11:00 h, while resting showed the highest probability between 22:00-23:00 h. Dispersing tigers allocated their activity budget equally among resting (32.09%), area-restricted movement (35.77%), and travelling (32.14%), as they navigated fragmented landscapes comprising of forests, wildlife corridors, agricultural fields, and human settlements. They exhibited faster, directed movements in low-cover areas and increased step lengths in fragmented, non-forest habitats, with a greater likelihood of travelling at dusk and night. Tigers in the post-dispersal phase had stable home ranges and maintained well-defined territorial boundaries. During area-restricted movement, they exhibited longer step lengths in forest habitats and faster travel speeds in a human‒agricultural matrix. Moreover, they tended to rest at high temperatures and travelled more when the temperatures were between 20 and 30 °C.

Our study provides crucial insights on tiger movements in human-dominated landscapes across different life stages and habitats. Understanding their behavioural patterns and implementing effective conservation efforts can ensure the long-term survival of tigers and their coexistence with humans.