Effect of Lantana Removal on Grouping Pattern of Chital Deer from Hathidagar Ecotourism Zone of Corbett National Park (Uttarakhand) India

Hathidagar and Phato ecotourism zones are the newly opened zones in Corbett National Park. These zones are becoming quite popular among tourists as the online and offline entry for gypsy safari here is getting full every day. This study has revealed the effect of the presence and removal of Lantana shrub on the population (group size) of Chital deer inside Hathidagar Forest. In this study, groups of Chital deer have been observed starting from January 2023, before the Hathidagar forest became an ecotourism zone, and till April 2025 (28 months) after the Hathidagar forest became an ecotourism zone. Chital are found feeding in grasslands most of the year but when the grass dries up, they feed in shrubland also. In 2023, Lantana was found in the form of boundaries in grassland and shrubland, at that time large groups of Chital used to complete their feed by continuing their feed in between 1 to 2 hours, and the feed frequency was 3-4 times only. After the removal of Lantana in 2024 and 2025, the groups of Chital breaks into small groups due to the absence of a Lantana boundary, and their feeding also gets disturbed. So, the feed frequency is obtained 4-5 times to complete the feed. Along with this, the chances of a Chital or a Tiger chasing a Chital coming to the roadside have also increased, due to which the risk of human-wildlife conflicts has increased. Hence, after this study, the direct effect of Lantana on the group size of Chital can also be added to the economic importance of Lantana.