Estimating Occupancy and Abundance of Endangered Kashmir Musk Deer (Moschus cupreus) in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand

The present study aimed to assess the occupancy and abundance of musk deer in Uttarkashi using camera traps from October 2018 to October 2019. Musk deer was detected in 9 out of 24 grids yielding a naïve occupancy estimate of 0.29. By using the null model, the estimates of the site occupancy was 0.39 and detection probability was 0.19. The overall abundance of musk deer was 28.40 in the study area, with an average density of 4.73/100 km². This study is the first attempt to estimate occupancy and abundance using camera traps, providingbaseline information for future management and conservation strategies within the landscape.