The proximity between humans, domestic animals, and wildlife favours disease spill-over, both from wildlife to domestic animals and vice versa. Such spill-overs, if left undetected, can transform into an epidemic, potentially exposing a wild species to the risk of local extinction. At the least, it could influence the emergence or re-emergence of infectious diseases. Several tiger reserves in India are inhabited by agrarian communities which maintain large herds of livestock and exert tremendous pressure on forest resources by competing with wild ungulates. This livestock comprising cow, buffaloes and goats are known to be carriers of many infectious diseases.

The threat of infectious diseases in livestock has been periodically highlighted by different government agencies and by WCT’s ongoing disease surveillance programme in Bandhavgarh and Sanjay Dubri Tiger Reserves in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. More than 170 and 130 villages exist within the core and buffer zones of Sanjay Dubri Tiger Reserve and Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserves respectively. These villages comprise a high density of livestock. Livestock populations are known to be the source of foot and mouth disease virus (FMDV), pestis de petes ruminants virus (PPR), and tuberculosis (TB) which are transmitted by them to wild herbivores. Hence, the knowledge of disease prevalence and herd immunity in the livestock populations in close proximity to wildlife is essential for effective conservation planning and combatting both zoonotic diseases and diseases of conservation concern.

Furthermore, decrease in wild prey populations in the tiger reserves will enable more human-wildlife interactions involving livestock predation by tigers and other large carnivores, and even endanger the lives of people. Such incidents will also give rise to a negative perception about tiger conservation.

The project also facilitates collaboration with the Animal Husbandry Department which is responsible for maintaining the health of livestock population in the district by planning and executing joint livestock health camps and vaccination drives in villages inside the tiger reserves which remain relatively isolated due to their remoteness. The availability of such services will help the forest management identify and address health-related threats to livestock and help contain diseases affecting wildlife.

The project objectives are as follows:

• To assess prevalence of FMD and bovine tuberculosis (bTB), and herd immunity in livestock.
• Identifying prevalence hotspots
• Identifying surveillance spots for future screening of FMD and bTB
• To assess the effect of interactions between livestock and wild herbivores on disease prevalence

WCT espouses the principle of One Health which highlights that for an ecosystem to be healthy, every organism in it including wildlife, livestock, and humans have to be healthy.