The endangered snow leopard is a large felid that is distributed over 1.83 million km2 globally. Throughout its range it relies on a limited number of prey species in some of the most inhospitable landscapes on the planet where high rates of human persecution exist for both predator and prey. We reviewed 14 published and 11 unpublished studies pertaining to snow leopard diet throughout its range. We calculated prey consumption in terms of frequency of occurrence and biomass consumed based on 1696 analysed scats from throughout the snow leopard's range. Prey biomass consumed was calculated based on the Ackerman's linear correction factor. We identified four distinct physiographic and snow leopard prey type zones, using cluster analysis that had unique prey assemblages and had key prey characteristics which supported snow leopard occurrence there. Levin's index showed the snow leopard had a specialized dietary niche breadth. The main prey of the snow leopard were Siberian ibex (Capra sibrica), blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur), Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus), argali (Ovis ammon) and marmots (Marmota spp). The significantly preferred prey species of snow leopard weighed 55±5 kg, while the preferred prey weight range of snow leopard was 36–76 kg with a significant preference for Siberian ibex and blue sheep. Our meta-analysis identified critical dietary resources for snow leopards throughout their distribution and illustrates the importance of understanding regional variation in species ecology; particularly prey species that have global implications for conservation.

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Of the sub-species of Holarctic wolf, the Woolly wolf (Canis lupus chanco) is uniquely adapted to atmospheric hypoxia and widely distributed across the Himalaya, Qinghai Tibetan Plateau (QTP) and Mongolia. Taxonomic ambiguity still exists for this sub-species because of complex evolutionary history anduse of limited wild samples across its range in Himalaya. We document for the first time population genetic structure and taxonomic affinity of the wolves across western and eastern Himalayan regions from samples collected from the wild (n = 19) using mitochondrial control region (225bp). We found two haplotypes in our data, one widely distributed in the Himalaya that was shared with QTP and the other confined to Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand in the western Himalaya, India. After combining our data withpublished sequences (n = 83), we observed 15 haplotypes. Some of these were shared among different locations from India to QTP and a few were private to geographic locations. A phylogenetic tree indicated that Woolly wolves from India, Nepal, QTP and Mongolia are basal to other wolves with shallow divergence (K2P; 0.000-0.044) and high bootstrap values. Demographic analyses based on mismatch distribution and Bayesian skyline plots (BSP) suggested a stable population over a long time (~million years) with signs of recent declines. Regional dominance of private haplotypes across its distribution range may indicate allopatric divergence. This may be due to differences in habitat characteristics, availability of different wild prey species and differential deglaciation within the range of the Woolly wolf during historic time. Presence of basal and shallow divergence within-clade along with unique ecological requirements and adaptation to hypoxia, the Woolly wolf of Himalaya, QTP, and Mongolian regions may be considered as a distinct an Evolutionary Significant Unit (ESU). Identifying management units (MUs) is needed within its distribution range using harmonized multiple genetic data for effective conservation planning.

Species interactions play a vital role in structuring mammalian communities by stimulating behavioral responses in varied niche dimensions that affect sympatric associations and predator-prey relationships. We determined temporal overlap and effects of the moon cycle on dominant and sub-dominant mammalian assemblages in Manas National Park, India. A total of 36 species were captured, with 24,865 independent records over 11,294 trap nights. We collected 1,130 photographs of five large-and medium-sized carnivores and 1,541 photographs of 12 small carnivores. Fifty-one percent of records were detected during diurnal period, followed by 38% in nocturnal phase, and 11% during twilight. Small carnivores such as Prionailurus bengalensis and Viverridae spp. were strictly nocturnal, whereas Martes flavigula and Herpestidae spp.were diurnal. Medium-sized carnivores were either nocturnal (Neofelis nebulosa) or diurnal (Cuon alpinus), whereas large-sized carnivores (Panthera tigris, Panthera pardus, and Ursus thibetanus) were cathemeral. A high degree of temporal overlap (>0.75) was found between most sympatric carnivores with distinct activity peaks, while a low overlap (<0.50) was observed between different body-sized carnivores. Viverrids' activity was negatively correlated (r = −0.44, p < 0.01) with lunar cycles, perhaps to increase foraging efficiency or as an anti-predator strategy. Large prey (μ = 133.23°) and small prey (μ = 131.35°) activity were high during brighter nights due to better visual detection in detecting or avoiding predators. Dominant species activity was least affected by the lunar cycle among forest-dependent mammals, whereas subdominant species activity was either lunarphobic or lunarphilic. The study demonstrates the use of passive camera traps in understanding the behavioral rhythms of tropical mammals.

The Himalayan wolf is one of the most basal among wolf lineages in the world today. It inhabits mostly the high elevations, northwards from the Himalayas (1500–5000 m) in the Asian region. We conducted a meta‐analysis to understand the dietary habits of Himalayan wolves and wolves of the high rangelands of Asia from seven countries (n = 22). We found 39 different prey items reported across the distribution of the Himalayan wolf from a total of 2331 scats (average of 105.95 ± 20.10 scats per study). Comparison of the relative frequency of occurrence of different prey species shows that domestic prey consumption (48.21 ± 5.61%) across the zones or continent was similar to wild prey consumption (42.94 ± 5.25%). Small wild prey species constituted approximately (24.53 ± 3.77%) of the total wolf diet. Wolves of the Asian Highlands consumed relatively more large prey (40.01 ± 5.42%) than small prey (25.19 ± 3.85%) or medium‐sized prey (23.17 ± 3.78%). Wolves consumed a larger proportion of domestic (54.92 ± 5.94%) than wild prey (36.13 ± 6.12%) in areas that had regular livestock grazing and vice versa. East, west and central Himalayan and Central Asian wolves consumed mostly large wild and domestic prey. On the contrary, wolves in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, Inner Mongolia and the Karakoram consumed a relatively higher proportion of smaller‐sized prey and livestock. Overall, wolves utilized mostly domestic livestock and marmots (Ivlev’s index, 0.22–0.77). High localized utilization of Przewalski’s horse (Equus ferus przewalkskii, 0.94) was recorded, whereas Goral (N. goral) and Pika (Ochotona spp) were particularly underutilized (−0.99 and −0.92) in wolf diet. A landscape or trans‐boundary approach is advocated to restore natural large wild prey, for such a relic lineage species and reduce human‐wolf conflicts.