Home range size and daytime habitat selection of leopards in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand

Simcharoen, Saksit; Barlow, Adam; Simcharoen, Achara; Smith, James L.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2008.06.015

Cited by 64 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Increased habitat suitability for leopards has been related to proximity to water sources [98], [99], areas covered by thick bushes and forest types [1], [100], and with positive NDVI [55]. This study corroborates the importance of water availability in terms of habitat suitability for leopards, though in the Ruaha landscape the species avoided areas of increased net productivity, instead favouring habitat types with less vegetation cover.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Using Landscape and Bioclimatic Features to Predict the Distribution of Lions, Leopards and Spotted Hyaenas in Tanzania's Ruaha Landscape

2014

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Tanzania's Ruaha landscape is an international priority area for large carnivores, supporting over 10% of the world's lions and important populations of leopards and spotted hyaenas. However, lack of ecological data on large carnivore distribution and habitat use hinders the development of effective carnivore conservation strategies in this critical landscape. Therefore, the study aimed to (i) identify the most significant ecogeographical variables influencing the potential distribution of lions, leopards and spotted hyaenas across the Ruaha landscape; (ii) identify zones with highest suitability for harbouring those species; and (iii) use species distribution modelling algorithms (SDMs) to define important areas for conservation of large carnivores. Habitat suitability was calculated based on environmental features from georeferenced presence-only carnivore location data. Potential distribution of large carnivores appeared to be strongly influenced by water availability; highly suitable areas were situated close to rivers and experienced above average annual precipitation. Net primary productivity and tree cover also exerted some influence on habitat suitability. All three species showed relatively narrow niche breadth and low tolerance to changes in habitat characteristics. From 21,050 km2 assessed, 8.1% (1,702 km2) emerged as highly suitable for all three large carnivores collectively. Of that area, 95.4% (1,624 km2) was located within 30 km of the Park-village border, raising concerns about human-carnivore conflict. This was of particular concern for spotted hyaenas, as they were located significantly closer to the Park boundary than lions and leopards. This study provides the first map of potential carnivore distribution across the globally important Ruaha landscape, and demonstrates that SDMs can be effective for understanding large carnivore habitat requirements in poorly sampled areas. This approach could have relevance for many other important wildlife areas that only have limited, haphazard presence-only data, but which urgently require strategic conservation planning.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Using Landscape and Bioclimatic Features to Predict the Distribution of Lions, Leopards and Spotted Hyaenas in Tanzania's Ruaha Landscape

2014

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“…For example, the highest known densities of both Leopard and Tiger within Thailand are in the same area (Khao Nang Rum) within Huai Kha Khaeng (Simcharoen et al . ). It is notable that this site also has high densities of both medium (Red Muntjac, Eurasian Wild Pig) and large prey (Gaur, Banteng).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Occurrence of Three Felids across a Network of Protected Areas in Thailand: Prey, Intraguild, and Habitat Associations

et al. 2012

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Clouded Leopard, Leopard, and Tiger are threatened felids in Southeast Asia, but little is known about the factors influencing their distributions. Using logistic regression, we assessed how habitat variables, prey detection patterns, and presence of intraguild predators affect the occurrence of these felids across 13 protected areas within Thailand. Our analysis is based on data from 1108 camera-trap locations (47,613 trap-nights). Clouded Leopard and Leopard are associated with habitat where Red Muntjac and Eurasian Wild Pig were most likely to be present. Tiger are associated with habitat with a higher likelihood for the presence of Gaur, Eurasian Wild Pig, and Sambar. Clouded Leopard and Tiger were both weakly associated with areas with mature evergreen forest. Besides availability of prey, associations with potential competitors also appear to influence the distribution of these felids, although the strength of these effects requires further investigation. Occurrence rates for Clouded Leopard were no different in protected areas with Leopard versus without Leopards. Leopard had similar occurrence rates regardless of the presence of Tiger, but Leopards were less likely to be detected at the same camera-trap points with the larger felid. Our results suggest that the two most commonly photographed prey species in the study areas serve as key prey species, Eurasian Wild Pig for all three carnivores and Red Muntjac for Leopard and Clouded Leopard.Abstract in Thai is available in the online version of this article.

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“…Each station was located within a 1.7 × 1.7‐km (2.89 km 2 ) cell, and was situated as close to the center of each cell as possible to avoid clumping of stations, while not compromising the suitability of the location. We chose the size of each cell to increase the likelihood that all individual animals were camera trapped, based on home range data from radio collaring studies conducted on leopards in Thailand (8.8–45.7 km 2 ; Rabinowitz , Grassman , Simcharoen et al ). The spacing between cameras was roughly half the diameter of the lowest estimate of a leopard's home range (8.8 km 2 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Melanistic leopards reveal their spots: Infrared camera traps provide a population density estimate of leopards in malaysia

Hedges

Lam²,

Campos‐Arceiz

et al. 2015

Jour. Wild. Mgmt.

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To date, leopards (Panthera pardus) in Peninsular Malaysia have been overlooked by large carnivore researchers. This is in part due to the country's unique population of individuals that are almost all melanistic, which makes it nearly impossible to identify individuals using camera traps for estimating leopard density. We discovered a novel modification to infrared flash camera traps, which forces the camera into night mode, that allows us to consistently and clearly see the spots of a melanistic leopard. The aim of this project was 1) to determine the feasibility of identifying melanistic leopards with confidence using infrared flash camera traps, and 2) to establish a density estimate for the leopard population in a wildlife corridor in Malaysia using maximum likelihood and Bayesian spatially explicit capture‐recapture (SECR) models. Both SECR approaches yielded a leopard density of approximately 3 individuals/100 km2. Our estimates represent the first density estimate of leopards in Malaysia and arguably, the world's first successful attempt to estimate the population size of a species with melanistic phenotypes. Because we have demonstrated that melanistic leopards can be monitored with confidence using infrared cameras, future studies should employ our approach instead of relying on scars or body shape for identification. Ultimately, our approach can facilitate more accurate assessments of leopard population trends, particularly in regions where melanistic phenotypes largely occur. © 2015 The Wildlife Society.

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Home range size and daytime habitat selection of leopards in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand

Cited by 64 publications

References 28 publications

Using Landscape and Bioclimatic Features to Predict the Distribution of Lions, Leopards and Spotted Hyaenas in Tanzania's Ruaha Landscape

Using Landscape and Bioclimatic Features to Predict the Distribution of Lions, Leopards and Spotted Hyaenas in Tanzania's Ruaha Landscape

Occurrence of Three Felids across a Network of Protected Areas in Thailand: Prey, Intraguild, and Habitat Associations

Melanistic leopards reveal their spots: Infrared camera traps provide a population density estimate of leopards in malaysia

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