Velu Mani Selvaraj

Mr. Velu Mani Selvaraj

orcid

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

18Years (2009-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

View All Publications
4 December 2009 in BMC Genomic Data
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
SMSamrat Mondol
Samrat Mondol
NRNavya R
Navya R
VAVidya Athreya
Vidya Athreya
Kartik SunagarKartik Sunagar
Kartik Sunagar
VSVelu Mani Selvaraj
Velu Mani Selvaraj
URUma Ramakrishnan
Uma Ramakrishnan
Leopards are the most widely distributed of the large cats, ranging from Africa to the Russian Far East. Because of habitat fragmentation, high human population densities and the inherent adaptability of this species, they now occupy landscapes close to human settlements. As a result, they are the most common species involved in human wildlife conflict in India, necessitating their monitoring. However, their elusive nature makes such monitoring difficult. Recent advances in DNA methods along with non-invasive sampling techniques can be used to monitor populations and individuals across large landscapes including human dominated ones. In this paper, we describe a DNA-based method for leopard individual identification where we used fecal DNA samples to obtain genetic material. Further, we apply our methods to non-invasive samples collected in a human-dominated landscape to estimate the minimum number of leopards in this human-leopard conflict area in Western India.