Data from: High early life mortality in free-ranging dogs is largely influenced by humans

• Main Authors: Paul, Manabi, Majumder, Sreejani Sen, Sau, Shubhra, Nandi, Anjan K., Bhadra, Anindita
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2016
• Subjects: population estimates; Canis lupus familiaris; present; Holocene; Canis lupus
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.80dc6

Free-ranging dogs are a ubiquitous part of human habitations in many developing countries, leading a life of scavengers dependent on human wastes for survival. The effective management of free-ranging dogs calls for understanding of their population dynamics. Life expectancy at birth and early life mortality are important factors that shape life-histories of mammals. We carried out a five year-long census based study in seven locations of West Bengal, India, to understand the pattern of population growth and factors affecting early life mortality in free-ranging dogs. We observed high rates of mortality, with only ~19% of the 364 pups from 95 observed litters surviving till the reproductive age; 63% of total mortality being human influenced. While living near people increases resource availability for dogs, it also has deep adverse impacts on their population growth, making the dog-human relationship on streets highly complex. Data record 1 Data sheet containing the sex ratio at birth of 104 litters. Data record 2 Data sheet containing the details of 95 mother-litter groups who were followed up to their 7th month of age.