Where-wolf? Estimating population sizes and densities of wolf packs in the Deccan grasslands

India is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world; it is also a rapidly developing country. Most of our wildlife exists outside protected reserves, alongside human habitation. One example of a shared landscape is the grassland habitat of the Deccan, which spans many states. Grassland ecosystems are often overlooked, but they are home to a range of animals that aren’t found in forests. This includes wolves, striped hyenas, and the now-extinct Asiatic cheetah. We have lost around a third of our grasslands, directly threatening the lives of the animals that depend on them. 

The Indian Wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) lives exclusively in open grasslands, scrub forests and rocky outcrops. Wolves are apex predators, they maintain balance in their ecosystems by controlling populations of prey like blackbucks, hares, and rodents. They live in packs of 4-8 members. They are monogamous and have powerful social bonds.

Grasslands are increasingly being converted to agricultural and industrial lands. This threatens wolf habitat, population and their source of food. They are forced to predate on livestock, increasing the potential of conflict. Lack of ecological data makes it unfeasible for us to help this locally endangered species. 

In the absence of baseline data, monitoring the presence and population trends of wolves becomes impossible. Wolves face threats such as poaching, retaliatory killings, habitat fragmentation and habitat conversion to agriculture. Our study will use systematic camera trapping to ensure scientific data collection. By understanding the distribution and occurrence of wolves, we will establish baseline data on the population sizes, densities and distribution of the wolves in the Deccan grasslands. This would contribute vital data required for any conservation action.

This study will contribute essential baseline data that has not been established previously. It helps us understand the presence and number of wolves in the human-dominated landscape of the Deccan grasslands. It provides a foundation that is crucial to track changes in wildlife populations or to create wildlife management strategies to prioritise conservation areas and species. By using camera traps as a method of study, we can understand how these wolves share landscapes with humans and with other carnivores. Establishing this data contributes to scientific knowledge to the understudied field of wildlife outside reserves. This research will be published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, but we will also communicate the results back to the locals in the landscape to raise awareness and build positive will towards wildlife.