Camera trap surveys reveal a wildlife haven: mammal communities in a tropical forest adjacent to a coal mining landscape in India

Having knowledge of the status and distribution species in a specific geographic area is crucial for creating efficient conservation strategies. In this study, we evaluated abundance diversity medium to large sized mammals tropical forest India that has been greatly impacted by coal mining. Using camera traps between June 2018 December 2018, recorded 27 mammal over 3432 trap-nights 81 trap stations within study area. The photo-captured included both common high value threatened species, such as tiger Panthera tigris, leopard P. pardus, sloth bear Melursus ursinus, Asian elephant Elephas maximus, Gaur Bos gaurus, Indian pangolin Manis crassicaudata, four-horned antelope Tetracerus quadricornis. Wild boar Sus scrofa was found be most frequently widespread species. Our provides valuable data on inventory relative area, highlighting its significance conservation. It also emphasizes need effective management strategies protect remaining fragments containing mammals, including several India.