First Record of Mammalian Diversity from Shikari Devi Wildlife Sanctuary in Mandi District of Himachal Pradesh, India

The exploration of Shikari Devi Wildlife Sanctuary in Mandi district has revealed the presence of sixteen mammalian species across seven orders and thirteen families. The Order Carnivora is most dominant, with the highest number of species and families. Among the families, Cercopithecidae, Felidae and Mustelidae are widespread in the sanctuary. The study focuses on species diversity, population trends, IUCN status, IWPA (1972) status including altitudinal distributional trend. According to the IUCN status, two species (Ursus thibetanus and Panthera pardus) are Vulnerable, Semnopithecus ajax is Endangered, twelve species are categorized as Least Concern and Naemorhedus goral is included under Near Threatened category. According to Indian Wildlife Protection Act (IWPA) 1972, 7 species fall under schedule II, Three species under III, Two species under IV whereas Two species under schedule I.