Data from: Conflict bear translocation: Investigating population genetics and fate of bear translocation in Dachigam National Park, Jammu and Kashmir, India

The Asiatic black bear population in Dachigam landscape, Jammu and Kashmir is well recognized as one of the highest density bear populations in India. Increasing incidences of bear-human interactions and the resultant retaliatory killings by locals have become a serious threat to the survivorship of black bears in the Dachigam landscape. The Department of Wildlife Protection in Jammu and Kashmir has been translocating bears involved in conflicts, henceforth 'conflict bears' from different sites in Dachigam landscape to Dachigam National Park as a flagship activity to mitigate conflicts. We undertook this study to investigate the population genetics and the fate of bear translocation in Dachigam National Park. We identified 109 unique genotypes in an area of ca. 650 km2 and observed bear population under panmixia that showed sound genetic variability. Molecular tracking of translocated bears revealed that mostly bears (7 out of 11 bears) returned to their capture sites, possibly due to homing instincts or habituation to the high quality food available in agricultural croplands and orchards, while only four bears remained in Dachigam National Park after translocation. Results indicated that translocation success was most likely to be season dependent as bears translocated during spring and late autumn returned to their capture sites, perhaps due to the scarcity of food inside Dachigam National Park while bears translocated in summer remained in Dachigam National Park due to availability of surplus food resources. Thus, the current management practices of translocating conflict bears, without taking into account spatio-temporal variability of food resources in Dachigam landscape seemed to be ineffective in mitigating conflicts on a long-term basis. However, the study highlighted the importance of molecular tracking of bears to understand their movement patterns and socio-biology in tough terrains like Dachigam landscape.查谟和克什米尔（Jammu and Kashmir）达奇加姆景观区（Dachigam landscape）内的亚洲黑熊（Asiatic black bear）种群，是印度境内公认的黑熊密度最高的种群之一。愈发频繁的人熊互动事件，以及由此引发的当地居民报复性猎杀行为，已对达奇加姆景观区内黑熊的生存构成严重威胁。查谟和克什米尔野生动物保护部门已将达奇加姆景观区内不同点位的冲突熊（conflict bears，即参与人熊冲突的黑熊）转移至达奇加姆国家公园（Dachigam National Park），以此作为缓解人熊冲突的核心旗舰举措。本研究旨在探究达奇加姆国家公园内黑熊的种群遗传学特征，以及熊类迁地转移后的存续命运。研究团队在约650平方千米的研究区域内鉴定出109个独特基因型，观测到达奇加姆区域的黑熊种群处于泛交（panmixia）状态，且具备良好的遗传变异水平。对转移熊只的分子追踪结果显示，11只被转移的熊中共有7只返回了原捕获点位，这可能是出于归巢本能，或是适应了农业耕地与果园中优质的食物资源；仅有4只熊在转移后留在达奇加姆国家公园内。研究结果表明，熊类迁地转移的成功率大概率与季节相关：春季与晚秋转移的熊只返回了原捕获点位，这或许是因为达奇加姆国家公园内食物匮乏；而夏季转移的熊只则留在公园内，得益于园内充足的食物资源。因此，当前未考虑达奇加姆景观区食物资源时空异质性的冲突熊转移管理举措，似乎无法长期有效缓解人熊冲突。但本研究也强调，在达奇加姆这类地形复杂的区域，通过分子追踪手段了解熊类的活动模式与社会生物学特征具有重要意义。