A cat among the dogs: leopardPanthera pardusdiet in a human-dominated landscape in western Maharashtra, India

Abstract

The ecology and predator–prey dynamics of large felids in the tropics have largely been studied in natural systems where wild ungulates constitute the majority of the prey base. However, human-dominated landscapes can be rich in potential prey for large carnivores because of the high density of domestic animals, especially in tropical countries where pastoralism is an important livelihood activity. We report the almost complete dependence of leopards Panthera pardus on domestic animals as prey in the crop lands of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India. From analysis of 85 confirmed leopard scats, 87% of the leopard's prey biomass consisted of domestic animals, with 39% consisting of domestic dogs Canis lupus familiaris alone. The only wild species that occurred in the leopard's diet were rodents, small indian civet Viverricula indica, bonnet macaque Macaca radiata and other primates Semnopithecus spp., mongoose Herpestes spp., and birds. Interviews conducted in 77 households distributed randomly in the study area documented a high density of domestic animals: adult cattle Bos taurus, calves, goats Capra aegagrus, dogs and cats Felis catus occurred at densities of 169, 54, 174, 24 and 61 per km2, respectively. Ivlev's electivity index indicated that dogs and cats were over-represented in the leopard's diet, given the higher densities of goats and cattle. The standing biomass of dogs and cats alone was sufficient to sustain the high density of carnivores at the study site. Our results show that the abundance of potential domestic prey biomass present in human-use areas supports a relatively high density of predators, although this interaction could result in conflict with humans.

Global patterns in biomass models describing prey consumption by big cats

“…Numbers of dogs consumed by leopards in Sanjay Gandhi National Park and western Maharashtra, India, were three times lower if estimated by linear models than if estimated by non‐linear models (Edgaonkar & Chellam , Athreya et al. ).…”

Prey depletion as a threat to the world's large carnivores

“…This may not be the case because historically preferred prey may now be too rare to appear in diet studies—a ‘shifting baseline’ problem [44]. For example, domestic animals recently made up an estimated 87% of the prey biomass of leopards in western Maharashtra, India [45]. In that study, the only wild prey found in leopard diets were rodents, small carnivores, primates and birds [45].…”

“…For example, domestic animals recently made up an estimated 87% of the prey biomass of leopards in western Maharashtra, India [45]. In that study, the only wild prey found in leopard diets were rodents, small carnivores, primates and birds [45]. Assessing prey preferences in such cases is problematic as historic prey may have been extirpated from the study area.…”

PREFERENSI HABITAT MACAN TUTUL JAWA (Panthera pardus melas Cuvier 1809) DI JAWA BAGIAN BARAT

“…Ketersediaan satwa mangsa merupakan faktor penentu keberadaan Macan Tutul Jawa di suatu habitat. Predator besar seperti Macan Tutul Jawa dapat mencapai kepadatan yang relatif tinggi di lanskap pedesaan (Athreya et al, 2016). Oleh karena itu perlu diketahui dengan akurat, baik kelimpahan maupun penyebarannya.…”