Status of Large Carnivores and Wild Ungulates in North and South Balaghat Forest Divisions

Deepti Gupta , Harshit Saxena, Sanket Bhale, Ankur Gautam, Suvankar Biswas, Pranav Chanchani

The Balaghat forest circle, comprising the North and South Balaghat Forest Divisions in Madhya Pradesh, forms a vital component of the Central India Landscape. Strategically positioned between the Kanha and Pench Tiger Reserves, the region serves as a critical corridor for tiger (Panthera tigris) dispersal and long term genetic connectivity and therefore contributes significantly to the stability of tiger population across central India. Balaghat represents a mosaic of deciduous forests and agriculture. Its ecological richness is underscored by the presence of diverse flora and fauna, including apex predators such as tigers, leopards (P. pardus), and dholes (Cuon alpinus), as well as several ungulate species. This report aims to provide the density estimates of large carnivores in the South Balaghat division and prey density estimates in the Balaghat circle, along with the status of wildlife. This report also offers management oriented recommendations to support landscape level conservation planning in the region.
To assess the large carnivore density and status of wildlife, 71 camera traps were deployed in November 2021 across the Lalbarra and Katangi ranges of South Balaghat, covering an area of 215km² for a period of 25 days. Individual tigers and leopards were identified, and population density was estimated using Spatially Explicit Capture-Recapture (SECR) model in R. Relative Abundance Index (RAI) maps were generated to understand the presence of other wildlife. Additionally, line transect surveys were undertaken in both North and South Balaghat divisions in December 2021 as part of the All-India Tiger Estimation (AITE) 2022 monitoring. A total of 394 transects (788km) in North Balaghat and 517 transects (1,034km) in South Balaghat were surveyed using the distance sampling method to estimate herbivore densities.
There were 14 individual tigers and 27 individual leopards photo captured during the survey, with estimated densities of 3.72 ± 1.01 individuals/100km² for tigers and 6.67 ± 2.04 individuals/100km² for leopards. Twenty three mammalian species were photo captured, highlighting Balaghat’s rich biodiversity. Herbivore density analysis indicated higher prey abundance in South Balaghat (125.16 ± 7.79 individuals/km²) compared to North Balaghat (59.06 ± 3.3 individuals/km²). Among ungulates, Axis axis (chital) was the most abundant species, followed by Sus scrofa (wild pig), while Rusa unicolor (sambar) and Bos gaurus (gaur) were recorded at lower densities.
The findings reinforce Balaghat’s ecological significance as a functioning tiger habitat and a crucial connectivity link between major protected areas. The area supports substantial mammalian diversity and serves as a stronghold for large carnivores, in spite of being a territorial forest. However, the report also highlights key conservation challenges, including habitat fragmentation from infrastructure development, expansion of mining operations, livestock dependency, and potential human-wildlife conflicts, that needs to be addressed.