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High early life mortality in free-ranging dogs is largely influenced by humans.

ABSTRACT: Free-ranging dogs are a ubiquitous part of human habitations in many developing countries, leading a life of scavengers dependent on human wastes for survival. The effective management of free-ranging dogs calls for understanding of their population dynamics. Life expectancy at birth and early life mortality are important factors that shape life-histories of mammals. We carried out a five year-long census based study in seven locations of West Bengal, India, to understand the pattern of population growth and factors affecting early life mortality in free-ranging dogs. We observed high rates of mortality, with only ~19% of the 364 pups from 95 observed litters surviving till the reproductive age; 63% of total mortality being human influenced. While living near people increases resource availability for dogs, it also has deep adverse impacts on their population growth, making the dog-human relationship on streets highly complex.

SUBMITTER: Paul M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4726281 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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High early life mortality in free-ranging dogs is largely influenced by humans.

Paul Manabi M Sen Majumder Sreejani S Sau Shubhra S Nandi Anjan K AK Bhadra Anindita A

Scientific reports 20160125

Free-ranging dogs are a ubiquitous part of human habitations in many developing countries, leading a life of scavengers dependent on human wastes for survival. The effective management of free-ranging dogs calls for understanding of their population dynamics. Life expectancy at birth and early life mortality are important factors that shape life-histories of mammals. We carried out a five year-long census based study in seven locations of West Bengal, India, to understand the pattern of populati ...[more]

PMID: 26804633

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