Habitat use of Himalayan grey goral in relation to livestock grazing in Machiara National Park, Pakistan

The Himalayan grey goral (Naemorhedus goral bedfordi) occurs in Pakistan and India, and is classified as Near Threatened on The IUCN Red List. This subspecies is threatened primarily by illegal hunting and competition with livestock, resulting in small and fragmented populations. The present study provides information on habitat use by grey goral at two locations in Machiara National Park (MNP), Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan, from 2012 to 2013. One location had low grazing pressure from livestock (Machiara), whereas the other had intensive livestock grazing (Serli Sacha). We determined the distribution of grey goral through direct observations of the animals and by the presence of their faecal pellets. We assessed habitat preferences using Ivlev's electivity index (IEI) by comparing vegetation and topography at used and unused quadrats along nine monitoring lines. Grey gorals strongly avoided areas with high livestock numbers, particularly grazers (cattle Bos taurus and sheep Ovis aries). Grey gorals were most commonly observed on south--facing slopes between 1970 and 2900 m a.s.l. during all seasons. Grey gorals preferred herbs and grasses (IEI = 0.14), used shrubby vegetation in proportion to its availability (IEI = 0.03), and avoided densely treed areas (IEI = -0.54). Our study suggests that a comprehensive livestock grazing strategy needs to be developed for the conservation of habitat suitable for grey goral in MNP.