Balancing act: persistence of the red fox in the dog-dominated landscapes of the Trans-Himalaya.

Free-ranging dogs pose a growing threat to wildlife globally. In the Indian Trans-Himalaya, growing populations of dogs raise concerns about their impact on native carnivores. Red foxes in Spiti Valley share spatial and dietary niches with dogs, despite intraguild killing pressure. Sampling across a gradient of dog density in the winter, we investigated two potential mechanisms that might enable the observed sympatry between foxes and dogs. Using a cue-based foraging station experiment, we investigated the use of anti-predatory vigilance by foxes. We also used a camera trap array to assess temporal partitioning between the two canids and the relative abundance of foxes across the dog-density gradient. Foxes only increased vigilance in response to simulated dog presence at sites with high dog densities. We found that temporal overlap was low across the dog-density gradient in the winter. Fox relative abundances increased with dog-density, indicating a potential lack of apparent top-down effects by dogs. Our findings suggest that while temporal partitioning may reduce encounters, increased vigilance in high-dog-density areas may be crucial for coexistence. We highlight the complex behavioural mechanisms facilitating the persistence of a generalist mesocarnivore in the face of increasing pressure from free-ranging dogs and underscore the need for similar investigations in other human-dominated landscapes.