Coexistence of Wild Fauna in the City: A Case Study of the Golden Jackal (Canis aureus Linn.) in Central Ridge, Delhi

Ajay Immanuel Gonji; Sonali Chauhan; Suresh Babu

doi:10.37773/ees.v7i2.1192

Authors

Ajay Immanuel Gonji PhD Scholar, School of Human Ecology, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University Delhi, Delhi
Sonali Chauhan PhD Scholar, School of Human Ecology, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University Delhi, Delhi
Suresh Babu Professor, School of Human Ecology, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University Delhi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3004-3066

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37773/ees.v7i2.1192

Keywords:

Urbanisation, Delhi Ridge, Golden Jackals, Mesopredator, Behavioural Adaptations, Synanthropic Fauna, Urban Adapters

Abstract

Rapid urbanization across the world has drawn attention to the unique state of urban woodlands. New Delhi is one of the world’s most populous cities; yet, it harbours several woodlands that support a variety of wildlife. The persistence of mesopredators like the golden jackal (Canis aureus Linn.) in the city is intriguing and provides an opportunity to explore coexistence in an urban context. Using a combination of camera trapping and occupancy modelling, our study aims to understand the habitat use, distribution, and urban adaptations of the jackal in Delhi’s Central Ridge Reserve Forest. Preliminary analysis shows extensive habitat use and sophisticated adaptations including adjustments in activity patterns in response to human activity and competition from feral dogs. The study also demonstrated behavioural adaptations, particularly in terms of foraging, denning, and coexistence with other species, which enable these urban populations of golden jackals to persist in the city. The study indicates the need for newer frameworks for conservation of synanthropic wild fauna that persist in calorie-rich urban environments.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Altmann, Jeanne. 1974. “Observational Study of Behavior: Sampling Methods.” Behaviour 49 (3): 227–67. https://doi.org/10.1163/156853974X00534

Ancrenaz, Marc, Andrew J Hearn, Joanna Ross, Rahel Sollmann, and Andreas Wilting. 2012. Handbook for Wildlife Monitoring Using Camera-traps. Kota Kinabalu: BBEC Publication.

Andrén, Henrik. 1994. “Effects of Habitat Fragmentation on Birds and Mammals in

Landscapes with Different Proportions of Suitable Habitat: A Review.” Oikos 71 (3): 355 66. https://doi.org/10.2307/3545823.

Arora, Aditya, Pallava Bagla, Nandita Hazarika, Ashish Kothari, Ranjit Lai, Subhadra

Menon, and Ghazala Shahabuddin. 1991. “The Delhi Ridge Forest: Decline and

Conservation.” New Delhi: Kalpavriksh.

Baskaran, Nagarajan, Ganesan Karthikeyan, and Kamaraj Ramkumaran. 2020. “Golden

Jackal Canis Aureus Linnaeus, 1758 (Mammalia: Carnivora: Canidae) Distribution Pattern and Feeding at Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary, India.” Journal of Threatened Taxa 12 (11): 16460–68. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4489.12.11.16460-16468.

Bateman, Philip W, and Patricia Anne Fleming. 2012. “Big City Life: Carnivores in Urban Environments.” Journal of Zoology 287 (1): 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2011.00887.x.

Baviskar, Amita. 2018. “Urban Jungles: Wilderness, Parks and Their Publics in Delhi.” Economic & Political Weekly 53 (2): 46–54.

———. 2020. Uncivil City: Ecology, Equity and the Commons in Delhi. New Delhi: SAGE Publications.

Benítez-López, Ana. 2018. “Animals Feel Safer from Humans in the Dark.” Science 360 (6394): 1185–6. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aau1311.

Bennett, Andrew F, and Denis A Saunders. 2010. “Habitat Fragmentation and Landscape Change.” In Conservation Biology for All, edited by Navjot S Sodhi and Paul R Ehrlich, 88–106. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199554232.003.0006.

Blair, Robert B. 2001. “Birds and Butterflies Along Urban Gradients in Two Ecoregions of the United States: Is Urbanization Creating a Homogenous Fauna?” In Biotic Homogenization, edited by Julie L Lockwood and Michael L McKinney, 33–56. New York: Kluwer Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1261-5_3

Bowe, Patrick. 2009. “The Genius of an Artist: William R Mustoe and the Planting of the City of New Delhi and Its Gardens.” Garden History 37 (1): 68–79.

Burnham, Kenneth P, and David R Anderson, eds. 2002. “Model Selection and Multimodel Inference: A Practical Information-theoretic Approach.” New York: Springer.

Cavin, Joëlle Salomon, and Christian A Kull. 2017. “Invasion Ecology Goes to Town: From Disdain to Sympathy.” Biological Invasions 19 (12): 3471–87. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-017-1588-9.

Champion, Harry G, and S K Seth. 1968. A Revised Survey of the Forest Types of India. Dehradun: Natraj Publishers.

Chauhan, Sonali, Gitanjali Yadav, and Suresh Babu. 2022. “Ecological Networks in Urban Forest Fragments Reveal Species Associations between Native and Invasive Plant Communities.” Plants 11 (4): 1–17. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11040541.

Ćirović, Duško, Aleksandra Penezić, and Miha Krofel. 2016. “Jackals as Cleaners: Ecosystem Services Provided by a Mesocarnivore in Human-dominated Landscapes.” Biological Conservation 199 (1): 51–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.04.027.

Coffin, Alisa W. 2007. “From Roadkill to Road Ecology: A Review of the Ecological Effects of Roads.” Journal of Transport Geography 15 (5): 396–406. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2006.11.006.

Crooks, Kevin R. 2002. “Relative Sensitivities of Mammalian Carnivores to Habitat Fragmentation.” Conservation Biology 16 (2): 488–502. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1739.2002.00386.x.

Crowley, Thomas. 2015. Fractured Forest: The Political Ecology of the Delhi Ridge. New Delhi: Intercultural Resources.

DDA. 2010. “Master Plan for Delhi – 2021.” New Delhi: Delhi Development Authority.

Endlicher, Wilfried, Marcel Langner, Markus Hesse, Harald A. Mieg, Ingo Kowarik, Patrick Hostert, Elmar Kulke et al. “Urban ecology-definitions and concepts.” In Shrinking Cities: Effects on Urban Ecology and Challenges for Urban Development, pp. 1-15. Bern, Switzerland: Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, 2007. Google Scholar.

Fahrig, Lenore. 2003. “Effects of Habitat Fragmentation on Biodiversity.” Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 34 (1): 487–515. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.34.011802.132419.

Fiske, I. J., & Chandler, R. B. (2011). Unmarked: An R package for fitting hierarchical models of wildlife occurrence and abundance. Journal of Statistical Software, 43(10), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v043.i10.

Forman, Richard T T, and Lauren E Alexander. 1998. “Roads and Their Major Ecological Effects.” Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 29 (1): 207–31. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.29.1.207.

Fuller, Todd K, Audrone R Biknevicius, Pieter W Kat, Blaire van Valkenburgh, and Robert K Wayne. 1989. “The Ecology of Three Sympatric Jackal Species in the Rift Valley of Kenya.” African Journal of Ecology 27 (4): 313–23. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2028.1989.tb01025.x.

Fuller, Todd K, Stephen DeStefano, and Paige S Warren. 2010. “Carnivore Behavior and Ecology, and Relationship to Urbanization.” In Urban Carnivores: Ecology, Conflict, and Conservation, edited by Stanley D Gehrt, Seth P D Riley, and Brian L Cypher, 13–19. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Gandhiok, Jasjeev. 2023. “Delhi: Golden Jackals Spotted at Yamuna Biodiversity Park.” Hindustan Times, April 11, 2023. https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/delhi-news/golden-jackals-sighted-for-the-first-time-in-delhi-s-yamuna-biodiversity-park-indicating-successful-rewilding-efforts-101681151965374.html.

Gaynor, Kaitlyn M, Cheryl E Hojnowski, Neil H Carter, and Justin S Brashares. 2018. “The Influence of Human Disturbance on Wildlife Nocturnality.” Science 360 (6394): 1232–35. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aar7121

Gehrt, Stanley D, Seth P D Riley, and Brian L Cypher, eds. 2010. Urban Carnivores: Ecology, Conflict and Conservation. Maryland: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Gehrt, Stanley D. 2007. “Ecology of Coyotes in Urban Landscapes.” 12th Wildlife Damage Management Conference Proceedings 63: 303–11.

Gil-Fernández, Margarita, Robert Harcourt, Thomas Newsome, Alison Towerton, and Alexandra Carthey. 2020. “Adaptations of the Red Fox (Vulpes Vulpes) to Urban Environments in Sydney, Australia.” Journal of Urban Ecology 6 (1): 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1093/jue/juaa009.

Giménez Gómez, Victoria C, José R Verdú, Andrés Gómez-Cifuentes, Fernando Z Vaz-de-Mello, and Gustavo A Zurita. 2018. “Influence of Land Use on the Trophic Niche Overlap of Dung Beetles in the Semideciduous Atlantic Forest of Argentina.” Insect Conservation and Diversity 11 (6): 554–64. https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12299.

Government of India. 2011. “Census of India 2011.” New Delhi: Government of India.

———. 2022. “The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act.” New Delhi: Ministry of Law and Justice.

Grimm, Nancy B, Stanley H Faeth, Nancy E Golubiewski, Charles L Redman, Jianguo Wu, Xuemei Bai, and John M Briggs. 2015. “Global Change and the Ecology of Cities.” Science 319 (5864): 756–60. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1150195.

Grinder, Martha I, and Paul R Krausman. 2001. “Home Range, Habitat Activity of Use, and Nocturnal in an Urban Environment.” The Journal of Wildlife Management 65 (4): 887–98. https://doi.org/10.2307/3803038

Gupta, Sreetamaa, Aritri Sanyal, Goutam K Saha, and A K Ghosh. 2016. “Diurnal Activity Pattern of Golden Jackal (Canis Aureus Linn.) in an Urban Landscape of Kolkata, India.” Proceedings of the Zoological Society 69 (1): 75–80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12595-014-0119-2.

Hepcan, Çiǧdem Coşkun. 2012. “Identifying and Assessing of the Red Fox (Vulpes Vulpes) Habitats in Çeşme-Urla Peninsula.” Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment 10 (1): 726–31.

Hoffmann, Mike, Janosch Arnold, J W Duckworth, Yadvendradev V Jhala, Jan F Kamler, and Miha Krofel. 2018. “Canis Aureus – Global Assessment.” IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 8235.

Iannarilli, Fabiola, John Erb, Todd W Arnold, and John R Fieberg. 2021. “Evaluating Species-specific Responses to Camera-trap Survey Designs.” Wildlife Biology 2021 (1): 1–12. https://doi.org/10.2981/wlb.00726.

İbiş, Osman, Eren Aksöyek, Servet Özcan, and Coşkun Tez. 2015. “A Preliminary Phylogenetic Analysis of Golden Jackals (Canis Aureus) (Canidae: Carnivora: Mammalia) from Turkey Based on Mitochondrial D-loop Sequences.” Vertebrate Zoology 65 (3): 391–7. https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.65.e31532.

Jensen, Per. 2007. The Behavioural Biology of Dogs. Trowbridge: Cromwell Press. https://doi.org/10.1079/9781845931872.0000

Jhala, Yadvendradev V, and P D Moehlman. 2004. “Golden Jackal Canis Aureus.” In Canids: Foxes, Wolves, Jackals and Dogs Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan, edited by Claudio Sillero-Zubiri, Michael Hoffmann, and David W MacDonald, 156–60. Gland: IUCN/SSC Canid Specialist Group.

Kays, Roland, Brian S Arbogast, Megan Baker-Whatton, Chris Beirne, Hailey M Boone, Mark Bowler, Santiago F Burneo, et al. 2020. “An Empirical Evaluation of Camera Trap Study Design: How Many, How Long and When?” Methods in Ecology and Evolution 11 (6): 700–13. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13370.

Kebede, Yigrem. 2017. “A Review On: Distribution, Ecology and Status of Golden Jackal (Canis Aureus) in Africa.” Journal of Natural Sciences Research 7 (1): 32–43.

Kowarik, Ingo. 2011. “Novel Urban Ecosystems, Biodiversity, and Conservation.” Environmental Pollution 159 (8–9): 1974–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2011.02.022.

Krishen, Pradip. 2006. Trees of Delhi: A Field Guide. New Delhi: Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt Ltd.

Kumar, Arun. 1997. “Fauna of Delhi: An Overview.” In Fauna of Delhi, edited by The Director, Zoological Survey of India, 1–16. Calcutta: Zoological Survey of India.

Lorimer, Jamie. 2015. Wildlife in the Anthropocene: Conservation after Nature. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. https://doi.org/10.5749/minnesota/9780816681075.001.0001

Lowry, Hélène, Alan Lill, and Bob B M Wong. 2013. “Behavioural Responses of Wildlife to Urban Environments.” Biological Reviews 88 (3): 537–49. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12012.

Luniak, Maciej. 2004. “Synurbization: Adaptation of Animal Wildlife to Urban Development.” Proceedings 4th International Urban Wildlife Symposium.

MacDonald, David W, Liz A D Campbell, Jan F Kamler, Jorgelina Marino, Geraldine Werhahn, and Claudio Sillero-Zubiri. 2019. “Monogamy: Cause, Consequence, or Corollary of Success in Wild Canids?” Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 7 (September): 1–28. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00341.

Mackenzie, D.I., and J.A. Royle. 2005. ‘Designing Occupancy Studies: General Advice and Allocating Survey Effort’. Journal of Applied Ecology 42: 1105–14. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2005.01098.x.

Mackenzie, D I, and James D Nichols. 2004. “Occupancy as a Surrogate for Abundance Estimation.” Animal Biodiversity and Conservation 27 (1): 461–7.

Mackenzie, D I, James D Nicolas, Jeffrey Andrew Royle, K H Pollock, Larissa L Bailey, and James E Hines. 2006. Occupancy Estimation and Modeling: Inferring Patterns and Dynamics of Species Occurrence. Burlington: Elsevier.

Magle, Seth B, Perla Reyes, Jun Zhu, and Kevin R Crooks. 2010. “Extirpation, Colonization, and Habitat Dynamics of a Keystone Species along an Urban Gradient.” Biological Conservation 143 (9): 2146–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2010.05.027.

Maheshwari, J K. 1963. Flora of Delhi. New Delhi: Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.

Majumder, Sreejani Sen, Manabi Paul, Shubhra Sau, and Anindita Bhadra. 2016. “Denning Habits of Free-Ranging Dogs Reveal Preference for Human Proximity.” Scientific Reports 6 (August): 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep32014.

Mann, Michael, and Samiksha Sehrawat. 2009. “A City With a View: The Afforestation of the Delhi Ridge, 1883–1913.” Modern Asian Studies 43 (2): 543–70. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X07002867.

Markov, Georgi. 2012. “Golden Jackal (Canis Aureus L.) in Bulgaria: What Is Going On?” Acta Zoologica Bulgarica 64 (1): 67–71.

Marks, Clive A, and Tim E Bloomfield. 1999. “Distribution and Density Estimates for Urban Foxes (Vulpes Vulpes) in Melbourne: Implications for Rabies Control.” Wildlife Research 26 (6): 763–75. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR98059

McCallum, Jamie. 2013. “Changing Use of Camera Traps in Mammalian Field Research: Habitats, Taxa and Study Types.” Mammal Review 43 (3): 192–206. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2907.2012.00216.x.

McDonnell, Mark J, and Amy K Hahs. 2015. “Adaptation and Adaptedness of Organisms to Urban Environments.” Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 46 (1): 261–80. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-112414-054258.

McDonnell, Mark J. 2011. “The History of Urban Ecology An Ecologist’s Perspective.” In Urban Ecology: Patterns, Processes, and Applications, edited by Jari Niemelä, 5–13. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199563562.003.0002

Meredith, M. and Ridout, M.S. 2014. “The Overlap Package”. Central R Archive Network Online. https://kar.kent.ac.uk/41474/

Moehlman, Patricia D. 1987. “Social Organization in Jackals.” American Scientist 75 (4): 366–75.

Mohan, Madan. 2001. ‘Gis-Based Spatial Information Integration, Modeling And Digital Mapping: A New Blend of Tool for Geospatial Environmental Health Analysis for Delhi’. International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing 34: 69–70.

Morell, Virginia. 2013. “Predators in the “Hood.’” Science 341 (6152): 1332–5. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.341.6152.1332.

Mukherjee, Aditi, Honnavalli Nagaraj Kumara, and Subramanian Bhupathy. 2018. “Golden Jackal’s Underground Shelters: Natal Site Selection, Seasonal Burrowing Activity and Pup Rearing by a Cathemeral Canid.” Mammal Research 63 (3): 325–39. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-018-0356-2.

Mukherjee, Shomita, S P Goyal, A J T Johnsingh, and M R P Leite Pitman. 2004. “The Importance of Rodents in the Diet of Jungle Cat (Felis Chaus), Caracal (Caracal Caracal) and Golden Jackal (Canis Aureus) in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, India.” Journal of Zoology 262 (4): 405–11. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0952836903004783.

Mukherjee, Shomita. 1998. “Habitat Use by Sympatric Small Carnivores in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, India.” PhD diss., Saurashtra University.

Negi, Tripti. 2014. “Review on Current Worldwide Status, Distribution, Ecology and Dietary Habits of Golden Jackal, Canis Aureus.” Octa Journal of Environmental 2 (4): 338–59.

Nichols, James D, Allan F O’Connell, and K Ullas Karanth. 2011. “Camera Traps in Animal Ecology and Conservation: What’s Next?” In Camera Traps in Animal Ecology: Methods and Analyses, edited by Allan F O’Connell, James D Nichols, and K Ullas Karanth, 253–63. Tokyo: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-99495-4_14

Niedballa, Jürgen, Rahel Sollmann, Azlan bin Mohamed, Johannes Bender, and Andreas Wilting. 2015. “Defining Habitat Covariates in Camera-trap Based Occupancy Studies.” Scientific Reports 5 (1): 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep17041.

Nurvianto, Sandy, Muhammad Ali Imron, and Sven Herzog. 2015. “Activity Patterns and Behaviour of Denning Dholes (Cuonalpinus) in a Dry Deciduous Forest of East Java, Indonesia.” Bulletin of Environment, Pharmacology and Life Sciences 4 (12): 45–54.

O’Connell, Allan F, and Larissa L Bailey. 2011. “Inference for Occupancy and Occupancy Dynamics.” In Camera Traps in Animal Ecology: Methods and Analyses, edited by Allan F O’Connell, James D Nichols, and K Ullas Karanth, 191–205. Tokyo: Springer.

Palmer, Clare. 2003. “Colonization, Urbanization, and Animals.” Philosophy and Geography 6 (1): 47–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/1090377032000063315.

Parker, Sophie S. 2015. “Incorporating Critical Elements of City Distinctiveness into Urban Biodiversity Conservation.” Biodiversity and Conservation 24 (3): 683–700. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-014-0832-1.

Pascual-Rico, Roberto, José Antonio Sánchez-Zapata, Joan Navarro, Sergio Eguía, José Daniel Anadón, and Francisco Botella. 2020. “Ecological Niche Overlap between Co-occurring Native and Exotic Ungulates: Insights for a Conservation Conflict.” Biological Invasions 22 (8): 2497–508. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-020-02265-x.

Patil, Vinayak Krishna, and Yadvendradev V Jhala. 2008. “Movement Patterns and Habitat Use of Golden Jackal Canis Aureus in Bhal Region of Gujarat.” Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 105 (2): 209–43.

Pickett, Steward T A, William R Burch Jr, Shawn E Dalton, Timothy W Foresman, J Morgan Grove, and Rowan Rowntree. 1997. “A Conceptual Framework for the Study of Human Ecosystems in Urban Areas.” Urban Ecosystems 1 (1): 185–99. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018531712889

Planning Commission. 2009. Delhi Development Report. New Delhi: Government of India.

Prange, Suzanne, Stanley D Gehrt, and Ernie P Wiggers. 2004. “Influences of Anthropogenic Resources on Raccoon (Procyon, Lotor) Movements and Spatial Distribution.” Journal of Mammalogy 85 (3): 483–90. https://doi.org/10.1644/BOS-121.

Punjab Government. 1883. “Gazetteer of the Delhi District.” Punjab: Punjab Government.

Rodewald, Amanda D, and Stanley D Gehrt. 2014. “Wildlife Population Dynamics in Urban Landscapes.” In Urban Wildlife Conservation, edited by Robert A McCleery, Christopher E Moorman, and M Nils Peterson, 117–47. New York: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7500-3_8

Rovero, Francesco, Mathias Tobler, and James Sanderson. 2010. “Camera-trapping for Inventorying Terrestrial Vertebrates.” In Manual on Field Recording Techniques and Protocols for All Taxa Biodiversity Inventories and Monitoring, edited by Jutta Eymann, Jérôme Degreef, Christoph Häuser, Juan Carlos Monje, Yves Samyn, and Didier VandenSpiegel, 100–128. Brussels: ABC Taxa.

Rowcliffe, J Marcus, and C Carbone. 2008. “Surveys Using Camera Traps: Are We Looking to a Brighter Future?” Animal Conservation 11 (3): 185–6. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-1795.2008.00180.x

Ryan, Amy M, and Sarah R Partan. 2014. “Urban Wildlife Behaviour.” In Urban Wildlife Conservation, edited by Robert A McCleery, Christopher E Moorman, and M Nils Peterson, 149–73. New York: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7500-3_9

Sanyal, Asok K, J K Dey, and P L Kankane. 2011. “The Jackals of Tollygunge Club, Kolkata.” Records of the Zoological Survey of India 111 (1): 37. https://doi.org/10.26515/rzsi/v111/i1/2011/158890.

Schilthuizen, Menno. 2018. Darwin Comes to Town: How the Urban Jungle Drives Evolution. London: Quercus Editions Ltd.

Shochat, Eyal, Paige S Warren, Stanley H Faeth, Nancy E McIntyre, and Diane Hope. 2006. “From Patterns to Emerging Processes in Mechanistic Urban Ecology.” Trends in Ecology and Evolution 21 (4): 186–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2005.11.019.

Singh, Aakriti, Aditi Mukherjee, Sumit Dookia, and Honnavalli Nagaraj Kumara. 2016. “High Resource Availability and Lack of Competition Have Increased Population of a Meso-carnivore—A Case Study of Golden Jackal in Keoladeo National Park, India.” Mammal Research 61 (3): 209–19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-016-0267-z.

Sinha, Anindya, and Maan Barua. 2020. “Nonhuman Lifeworlds in Urban India.” The Philosopher 108 (1): 22–27.

Sinha, G N, ed. 2014. An Introduction to the Delhi Ridge. New Delhi: Department of Forests and Wildlife, Government of NCT of Delhi.

Sol, Daniel, Oriol Lapiedra, and Cesar González-Lagos. 2013. “Behavioural Adjustments for a Life in the City.” Animal Behaviour 85 (5): 1101–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.01.023.

Solanki, Srishti. 2014. “Evolution of Statutory and Management Framework.” In An Introduction to the Delhi Ridge, edited by G N Sinha, 29–46. New Delhi: Department of Forests and Wildlife, Government of NCT of Delhi.

Sollmann, Rahel. 2018. “A Gentle Introduction to Camera-trap Data Analysis.” African Journal of Ecology 56 (4): 740–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/aje.12557.

Southern, H N. 1955. “Nocturnal Animals.” Scientific American 193 (4): 88–99. https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican1055-88

Stamp Dawkins, Marian. 2008. Observing Animal Behaviour: Design and Analysis of Quantitative Data. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198569350.001.0001.

Sud, Megha. 2017. Political Ecology of the Ridge: The Establishment and Contestation of Urban Forest Conservation in Delhi. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag. https://doi.org/10.25162/9783515117159

The Times of India. 1950. “Delhi Diary.” ProQuest Historical Newspapers.

Thomas, Chris D. 2017. Inheritors of the Earth. London: Penguin.

Tinbergen, Niko. 1963. “On Aims and Methods of Ethology.” Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie 20 (1): 410–33. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0310.1963.tb01161.x

Trouwborst, Arie, Miha Krofel, and John D C Linnell. 2015. “Legal Implications of Range Expansions in a Terrestrial Carnivore: The Case of the Golden Jackal (Canis Aureus) in Europe.” Biodiversity and Conservation 24 (10): 2593–610. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-015-0948-y.

United Nations. 2019. “World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision.” New York: Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division.

Vanak, Abi Tamim, and Matthew E Gompper. 2009. “Dogs Canis Familiaris as Carnivores: Their Role and Function in Intraguild Competition.” Mammal Review 39: 265–83. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2907.2009.00148.x

Varsha. 2014. “The Delhi Ridge.” In An Introduction to the Delhi Ridge, edited by G N Sinha, 1–28. New Delhi: Department of Forests and Wildlife, Government of NCT of Delhi.

Venn, Stephen J, and Jari K Niemelä. 2004. “Ecology in a Multidisciplinary Study of Urban Green Space: The URGE Project.” Boreal Environment Research 9 (1): 479–89.

Yumnam, Bibek, Tripti Negi, Jesús E Maldonado, Robert C Fleischer, and Yadvendradev V Jhala. 2015. “Phylogeography of the Golden Jackal (Canis Aureus) in India.” PLoS ONE 10 (9): 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0138497.

ZSI. 1997. Fauna of Delhi. Calcutta: Zoological Survey of India.