Diet, prey selection, and activity of Asian golden cats and leopard cats in northern Laos

Abstract

The Asian golden cat (Catopuma temminckii) occurs in small, declining, and highly fragmented populations throughout Southeast Asia, whereas the smaller leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) is common and widespread. In contrast to leopard cats, little is known about the ecology of Asian golden cats, and resource partitioning between these species has not been studied. We used DNA-confirmed scats, camera-trap data, and prey surveys, to determine the diet, prey selection, and activity, of Asian golden cats and leopard cats in a protected area in northern Laos. The two felids had different diets: Asian golden cats consumed mostly ungulates (35% biomass consumed), murid rodents (23%), and carnivores (15%), whereas leopard cats consumed mostly murid rodents (79%). Asian golden cats were not random in their consumption of ungulates, because muntjac (Muntiacus spp.) were selectively consumed over larger ungulates, indicating muntjac were preyed upon rather than scavenged. Dietary overlap between the two felid species was moderate (R0 = 0.60), and the dietary niche breadth of Asian golden cats (B = 8.44) was nearly twice as high as that of leopard cats (4.54). The mean (± SD) scat diameter was greater for Asian golden cats (2.1 ± 0.3 cm) than leopard cats (1.8 ± 0.2 cm), although diameters of leopard cat scats were considerably larger than previously assumed for this species. The felid species differed in their activity patterns, because Asian golden cats were diurnal, whereas leopard cats were nocturnal, although they did not differ in their use of elevation, suggesting there was no habitat segregation. Overall, leopard cats appeared to coexist with Asian golden cats, a potential predator and competitor, by exhibiting dietary and temporal partitioning. Our results showed that muntjac were important prey of Asian golden cats, suggesting the management of muntjac might be important for conserving populations of Asian golden cats.

Small cats in big trouble? Diet, activity, and habitat use of jungle cats and leopard cats in threatened dry deciduous forests, Cambodia

“…Leopard cats (2-3 kg; Grassman et al, 2005), which are still common and widespread throughout Southeast Asia (Ross et al, 2015), feed primarily on small rodents weighing < 0.5 kg (Kamler, Inthapanya, et al, 2020). Therefore, dietary overlap and potential competition with jungle cats could be high, unless jungle cats regularly consume larger food items such as carrion or ungulate fawns in DDF, similar to that reported in India (Table 1).…”

“…activity overlap, biomass consumed, camera-trapping, dietary overlap, Felis chaus, open dry deciduous forests, Prionailurus bengalensis, Southeast Asia, species interactions, two-species occupancy modeling Alternatively, when overlap levels of spatial niche and food resources are high, temporal partitioning can occur, whereby subordinate species adjust their activity patterns to reduce encounters and facilitate coexistence with a dominant competitor. Low overlap of activity patterns has been shown to exist between small felid species in Southeast Asia (Kamler, Inthapanya, et al, 2020;Lynam et al, 2013;McCarthy et al, 2015;Mukherjee et al, 2019;Rasphone et al, 2020) and in other regions of the world (Leonard et al, 2020;Lucherini et al, 2009;Nagy-Reis et al, 2019), indicating this strategy also is used to enable coexistence between similarly sized felids.…”

“…l Allayarov (1964) (includes contents from 6 stomachs). almost strictly nocturnal (Grassman et al, 2005;Kamler, Inthapanya, et al, 2020;Lynam et al, 2013;Mukherjee et al, 2019;Rasphone et al, 2020), which could facilitate temporal partitioning between these species if jungle cats are more diurnal. Jungle cats are considerably taller than leopard cats (Francis, 2019) and twice the body weight; consequently, jungle cats should behaviorally dominate leopard cats, although their interactions have not been studied.…”

Density trends of wild felids in northern Laos

“…Given the relatively low density of clouded leopards in NEPL, and the high diversity of potential prey that we recorded, it is highly unlikely that the clouded leopard population was limited by prey. The diets of marbled cats and leopard cats also are diverse, and reportedly consist primarily of small rodents (Nowell and Jackson 1996;Kamler et al 2020;Rostro-García et al 2021). It is doubtful that all species of small rodents significantly declined during our study, especially because small rodents are not targeted by poachers because these species are too small to be captured in snares.…”

“…consisted of two large felids, tiger (Panthera tigris) and leopard (P. pardus), together with the "standard four" medium and small felids: clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), Asian golden cat (Catopuma temminckii), marbled cat (Pardofelis marmorata), and leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis; Duckworth et al 2014). Several studies have examined the mechanisms that allow such a diverse felid community to coexist, and have concluded that temporal partitioning and dietary partitioning likely help to facilitate their coexistence (Mukherjee et al 2019;Nagy-Reis et al 2019;Kamler et al 2020;Rasphone et al 2020). Additionally, smaller felid species may sometimes, but not always, behaviorally avoid larger felid species (McDougal et al 1988;Horne et al 2009;Foster et al 2013;Rostro-García et al 2015, 2021, thereby further facilitating their coexistence.…”