Occurrence of Free-Ranging Indian Crested Porcupine (Hystrix indica) and Other Co-Occurring Mammals within the Urban Protected Area in Indian Mega city-Delhi, NCR

Camera trapping has been used to assess the activity patterns of Indian crested porcupines and co-occurring mammals in urban protected areas. Data have been collected during the winter season. There is very lesser-known information available about the activity patterns and co-occurrence of free-ranging mammalian species in National Zoological Park, New Delhi (NZP). By using a preliminary sign survey and camera trapping technique, the information on free-ranging Indian Crested Porcupine (Hystrix indica) was collected during the study period i.e., January–April, 2021. For the sampling effort of 196 trap nights over the period of 60 days, a total of 229 photographs were captured. The estimated sign density for the Indian crested porcupine (Hystrix indica) was recorded as 0.22sign/ha. Relative Abundance Indices (RAIs) were estimated as 24.49, 9.18 and 6.63 for Indian crested porcupine (Hystrix indica), common palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) and small Indian civet (Viverricula indica) respectively. Porcupines were seen active throughout the night along with other small mammals like common palm civet and small Indian civet. For ICP high detection probability was between 1800–2000 h with the highest daily activity index (DAI) of 45.82. The highest degree of activity overlap was observed between ICP and CPC [Δ = 0.61 (± 0.07)] followed by CPC and SIC [Δ = 0.55 (± 0.12)] and & ICP and SIC [Δ = 0.49 (± 0.11)]. These observations highlight the nocturnal habits of these species, with each having specific peak activity times during the night and early morning hours. This information can be useful for understanding their behaviour, and habitat use, and for planning conservation strategies.