Investigating seasonal habitat-use of saltwater crocodiles in the Ayeyarwady Delta to identify potential conservation areas in Myanmar

Abstract

Understanding the impact of land-cover mosaics on crocodile distribution and habitat patterns is essential to prioritize areas for their conservation in human-dominated landscapes. This is especially important for species with specialist requirements; or where there is human–wildlife conflict, as is the case in many areas with crocodiles, such as Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Delta. The saltwater crocodile is used as a surrogate species in this study to identify important conservation areas, and to propose potential protected areas for the Ayeyarwady coastal mangrove ecoregion. In total, 684 locations of saltwater crocodile encounters were collected, 444 for the wet season (May to June), and 240 for the dry season (December to January) between 1999 and 2018. Suitable habitats of saltwater crocodiles in the Ayeyarwady Delta were modelled for wet and dry seasons, using 12 predictor variables at 300-m resolution. The area of suitable habitat in the wet season is about 1,272.3 km2 but reduces to 563.7 km2 in the dry season. Distance to the cropland, distance to the sea, mangrove cover, and wetland cover are identified as the key landscape variables that contributed to the seasonal habitat distribution of saltwater crocodiles in the Ayeyarwady Delta. Protecting core and buffer areas in Kadonkani Reserved Forest and Pyindayae Reserved Forest would safeguard the seasonal habitats of saltwater crocodiles. Khaing Thaung Island, an unprotected area with suitable habitat areas for saltwater crocodiles, is proposed as a potential marine protected area in the Ayeyarwady Delta of Myanmar.