Research Article:

Majgaonkar, I., Paul, A., Sharma, S., & Ghorpade, I. (2026). Mislabeled and misunderstood: large mammal distribution underscores ecological significance of Agro‐Pastoral “Wastelands” in India’s Deccan peninsula. Ecology and Evolution, 16(1), e72937.

Blog Author: Malavika Jayachandran

Key highlights: 

• With only 16% of global land under protection, many large mammals in India continue to persist in shared, human-dominated landscapes rather than inside national parks alone.
• Open Natural Ecosystems (ONEs) are often mislabeled as “wastelands” despite providing critical habitat for threatened species across the Deccan Peninsula.
• Species such as blackbuck, striped hyena, and sloth bear survive in a mix of rain-fed farms, scrublands, and rocky outcrops, living close to human communities.
• Though pastoralists and wildlife overlap in these “wastelands”, it is not without conflict and challenges
• Changing the labelling of these “wastelands” and recognizing the traditional knowledge of pastoralists is essential for effective conservation beyond protected areas.
  

For centuries, we have watched animals disappear from Earth, with human actions speeding up extinction in ways faster than ever before. To curb this, we have created protected areas and sanctuaries that are meant to be free of disturbances and provide a haven for endemic species and ecological hotspots around the world. But what of the vast landscapes outside park boundaries that are a refuge for many generalist species?

As of today, only 16% of the global landmass lies within protected areas. While these regions shelter some of the most critically endangered species, an intense focus on them can leave other important landscapes overlooked. The problem is especially pervasive in India, where large semi-arid, multi-use regions are often labelled as “wastelands,” a term that suggests barrenness and ecological failure. Koppal district in Karnataka, for instance, has no national park or wildlife sanctuary, and only a small fraction of its land falls under forest department control. Yet species such as the blackbuck, striped hyena, sloth bear, Indian wolf, and leopard continue to survive here. These species live within a mix of rain-fed farms, scrublands, and rocky outcrops known as Open Natural Ecosystems (ONEs). 

Researchers studying the area conducted interviews with local pastoralists, as their daily encounters with wildlife offered insights into where animals occurred and how they used the landscape. Blackbuck emerged as the most widespread species, occupying nearly 63% of the region. Rather than being confined to scrub or rocky hills, they were scattered across agricultural lands. Their presence was strongly linked to low-intensity, rain-fed “kharif” farming and areas with fewer roads. Seasonal agriculture, with its fallow periods and moderate disturbance, appeared to create conditions for them to persist. 

On the other hand, striped hyenas occupied about 52% of the district, while sloth bears were present across roughly 26%. Both species were closely tied to rocky and scrubby ONEs, which provided denning sites and daytime refuge from human activity. A surprising finding was that longer road networks did not negatively impact the presence of the two species, though further evidence is required to understand how traffic, surroundings, and other road characteristics impact the species. 

While it was found that these areas supported both pastoral activity and wildlife, it doesn’t necessarily point towards harmonious coexistence. Within Koppal itself, there were 149 cases of crop loss, livestock loss, and human injury between 2007 and 2017, and these figures are likely to be under-reported.  However, one thing remained certain; these semi-arid shared landscapes were anything but barren “wastelands”. These landscapes sustain endangered wildlife and pastoral livelihoods. Labelling them as empty or degraded fuels their conversion into intensive agriculture, green energy sites, or afforestation projects, overlooking the refuge they provide to large mammals across India. Through this process, we also risk destroying the livelihood of pastoralists and losing the rich ecological knowledge they have built over generations. The results of this study show that conservation in the Deccan Peninsula does not have to depend solely on protected areas. It can thrive within a thoughtful land-sharing framework if we first recognize these mislabelled landscapes as the ecologically important spaces they truly are.

You can access the original article here.

Keywords: Semi-arid landscapes, pastoralism, blackbuck, striped hyena, sloth bear, open natural ecosystems, research study