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Introduction
The swamp deer Rucervus duvaucelii or barasingha is an obligate swampy grassland-dwelling large cervid endemic to India and Nepal (Qureshi et al., 2004). Historically swamp deer were widely distributed throughout the Indo-Gangetic plains and the lowlands flanking the southern Himalayas from Pakistan to Bangladesh and through to India (Schaller, 1967; Groves, 1982; Sankaran, 1989). With a current global population size of < 5,000 (Qureshi et al., 2004; Tewari & Rawat, 2013a) and a declining trend across its range (Duckworth et al., 2015), the swamp deer is restricted to isolated pockets in north, north-east and central India and south-west Nepal (Qureshi et al., 2004). The species is categorized as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List (Duckworth et al., 2015) and is listed in Appendix I of CITES and Schedule I (highest level of protection) of the Wildlife Protection Act of India (1972). There are three subspecies of swamp deer. The northern subspecies Rucervus duvaucelii duvaucelii occurs in the north Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and in Nepal. The hard ground barasingha Rucervus duvaucelii branderi (Pocock, 1943; Ellerman & Morrison-Scott, 1951) occurs in a single population in central India, and the eastern subspecies Rucervus duvaucelii ranjitsinhi occurs in the state of Assam (Groves, 1982; Qureshi et al., 2004). All swamp deer populations in India have declined in the last century because of increased anthropogenic pressure and changing land use practices (Qureshi et al., 2004). The long-term viability of the remaining populations is under threat from habitat loss and degradation, leading to isolated populations, disturbance from livestock grazing and poaching (Qureshi et al., 2004).
Rucervus duvaucelii duvaucelii is the most abundant of the subspecies, comprising c. 80% of the global population (Qureshi et al., 1995, 2004). This subspecies occurs in small, fragmented populations across the states of Uttar Pradesh (Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary, Bijnor Forest Division, Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary, Dudhwa National Park and Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary) and Uttarakhand (Jhilmil Jheel Conservation Reserve) (Qureshi et al., 2004). It was thought to be extinct in the state of Uttarakhand, but was rediscovered in 2005 at Jhilmil Jheel Conservation Reserve (Sinha & Chandola, 2006), followed by reports of another small population in the Banganga wetland...