PRESENT POPULATION STATUS AND CONSERVATION OF THE CHITAL (Axis axis) IN THE KALAKKAD- MUNDANTHURAI TIGER RESERVE, TAMIL NADU, SOUTH INDIA

摘要

The chital (Axis axis) is one of the three suborders of deer which belong to the family Cervidae (Jodan et al., 2000). This sub-order is wholly confined to the Kalakkad-Mundanthurai areas, and it has been included in the "List of the important species to be protected in India" in the first-ranked category. Conservation efforts have been made to protect them in their ranges and a nature reserve has been established for their protection since the 1980s. Monitoring programs on population size and habitat use of chital were conducted in the winter of 2001 in the Kalakkad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR), which was set up in 1988-89 for the protection of tiger. The results are reported here.