Author(s):

K Swamy, M Karthikeyan and D Boominathan

Abstract: Habitat preference of Four-horned Antelope Tetracerus quadricornis was studied at Sathyamangalam Wildlife sanctuary. A grid based approach was followed to find out the habitat preference. Due to shy nature and small size of the animal make sightings difficult, so indirect signs also taken into consideration when assessing their preference of habitat. Both direct sightings and indirect signs locations were plotted and prepared a distribution map. The majority of the records (~72%) were on hill/nulla slopes; however this may be due to the terrain being largely composed of such areas. Flat and open areas had only 28% of the records. The encounter rate for signs/sightings was 1.71/km in the open habitat and it was much lower (0.25/km) in the fairly dense forests. Four-horned Antelopes largely prefer open habitat and appear to avoid dense areas.

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