Abstract
The present study was aimed to determine the population characteristics of the House
shrew, Suncus murinus, in rural commensal habitats of Pothwar, Pakistan. The
trapping campaign was conducted in four village sites of Pothwar on a seasonal basis
from March 2012 through February 2014. In each village, snap traps were set in three
types of structures (including, village households, shops and farm houses). The results
showed that the shrew population in the rural human habitations had an unbiased sex
ratio. Reproductively active individuals were present throughout the year.
Reproductively active females outnumbered the inactive individuals. The species was
predominantly eating animal food (mainly insects) in its diet along with the sufficient
amount of plant matter. Overall, these results indicated that in commensal conditions
shrew populations had diversity in their diet with the relatively continuous
reproductive activity.
Surrya Khanam, Muhammad Mushtaq, Muhammad Sajid Nadeem, Amjad Rashid Kayani. (2017) Population characteristics of Suncus murinus in rural commensal habitats of Pothwar, Pakistan, Asian Journal of Agriculture and Biology, Volume 5, Issue 4.
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