Figure
1 : Location map of Nech Sar National Park (Source: Kelboro and
Stellmacher 2012)
A total of 16 transect lines; six for grassland, five for bushland, four
for the ground-water forest, and the remaining one for the riverine
forest was established. The sampling transects selected from each census
zone represented about 25-30% of each census zone (Yates 1960) (Table
1). The study was conducted during both the dry (December-February) and
wet (March-May) seasons. A survey was conducted using GPS and binocular
in each randomly selected block along the selected transects. The
transect width varied between 100 m up to 500 m. The variation was
determined based on the type of vegetation cover of each of the census
zone. The length of transects also varied from 3.5 to 5 km and it was
determined based on the type of ecological units (Figure 2, 3, 4, and
5).
The survey was conducted on foot along the established transects
observing the prevailing mammals on each transect′s left and right
sides. Two observers were involved in collecting data from the left and
the right side of each line transect. Both were assigned to the left or
right side of the transect line and scanned the route with the
spotlight. Intensive transect samplings were carried out to maximize
sampling effort. Accordingly, all transects were visited bi-monthly
during the data collection periods of both wet and dry seasons. To
enhance sampling effort, in a single visit, each transect was walked
twice, early in the morning during 06:00-10:00 am and late in the
afternoon 03:00- 06:00 pm when the wild animals were more active.
Table 1: Number, length, width,
and proportion for randomly selected transects