Leopard abundance, distribution and food habits in the Mt. Rungwe–Kitulo landscape, Southern Tanzania

Luca, Daniela W. De; Mpunga, Noah E.

doi:10.1111/aje.12464

Cited by 5 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…A regression equation was used to calculate the relative biomass of each prey species from its corrected frequency of occurrence and the mean individual weight. This formula was originally provided for pumas (Puma concolor) (Ackerman, Lindzey, & Hemker, 1984) but has also been used widely for studies in leopards (De Luca & Mpunga, 2018;Hart et al, 1996;Henschel et al, 2005). For each identified prey taxon, k, weighing more than 2 kg, prey biomass consumed (B k ) was calculated using the following formula:…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…High consumption of small‐sized prey is well known in some habitats (De Luca & Mpunga, ; Ray & Sunquist, ), but as far as I know, primates have never been recorded as the most consumed prey order for leopards in Africa (Table ). There have been some discussions that leopards may be forced to switch to small‐sized mammals when the density of both medium‐sized and large‐sized mammals becomes very low due to human disturbance and/or habitat destruction (De Luca & Mpunga, ; Henschel et al, ). However, such a scenario is not applicable to Mahale, which has been under protection for >30 years.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are some exceptional areas where the leopards' staple food order is Rodentia such as Mt. Rungwe-Kitulo, Tanzania, where ungulate density is very low (De Luca & Mpunga, 2018), and the Lolldiga Hills ranch, Kenya, inhabited by various ungulates but at low densities (Mizutani, 1999). Ray and Sunquist (2001) argued that such high consumption of small-sized mammals may be attributed to their relatively high density and/or vulnerable nature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…arboreal primates, diet, Panthera pardus, prey preference, staple food, Tanzania However, it has recently been discussed that leopards may be forced to switch from medium-sized prey to small-sized prey as a consequence of human disturbance (e.g. human hunting on larger game); thus, small-sized prey selection may be a secondary adaptation (De Luca & Mpunga, 2018;Henschel et al, 2005;Ott, Kerley, & Boshoff, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Primates are an important food resource for leopards (Panthera pardus) in Mahale, Tanzania

Nakazawa

2019

Afr J Ecol

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Leopard diets in the Kasoje area of the Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania, were analysed by inspecting prey remains in 256 scats. This area is unique as leopard density is high despite a relatively low density of medium‐sized ungulates, regarded as the most preferred prey of leopards. At least eleven prey mammal species were confirmed in the scats. Small prey mammals up to 10 kg comprised 91.4% of the relative biomass consumed; the mean prey biomass in each scat was 7.6 kg. Blue duiker (31.2%) was the most dominant prey species, followed by the red colobus (29.2%), semi‐terrestrial Cercopithecinae (the vervet monkey and yellow baboon combined) (10.5%) and the red‐tailed monkey (9.9%). At the order level, the most consumed prey taxon was Primates (53.8%), followed by Cetartiodactyla (39.6%) and Rodentia (5.8%). Among primates, the blue monkey was the most preferred prey species, followed by the red colobus and semi‐terrestrial Cercopithecinae. High consumption of primates is a unique characteristic of the leopards in Mahale. This trend exemplifies the flexibility of leopards in their choices of prey, and such flexibility may be one of the underlying reasons for leopards exhibiting the broadest global distribution among all wild felid species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Primates are an important food resource for leopards (Panthera pardus) in Mahale, Tanzania

Nakazawa

2019

Afr J Ecol

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“…savanna woodland 1998–1999 (130 days) 9 direct observations or tracks 2.1/month Jaffe and Isbell ( 2010 ) 1997–1999 (22 months) 6 direct observations, scats, or tracks 0.27/month Isbell and Enstam ( 2002 ) Tanzania Mahale Mountains NP 1613 Semi-deciduous forest; miombo woodland 2012 (41 days) 142 scats 104/month Nakazawa et al ( 2013 ) Mt. Rungwe Nature Reserve & Kitulo NP 563 Montane forest and grassland 2003–2010 76 scats 0.03/km De Luca and Mpunga ( 2018 ) Issa Valley 60 Miombo woodland; evergreen riverine forest 2008–2009 (12 months) 12 direct observations, vocalizations, scats, or tracks 1/month Hernandez-Aguilar ( 2006 ) 2001–2003 (21 month) – 2 – 4 vocalizations, scats, or tracks/month Hernandez-Aguilar ( 2006 ) Udzungwa Mountains NP 1999 Montane evergreen forest; deciduous woodland 2001–2002 (13 months) 28 scats 0.03/km De Luca and Mpunga ( 2005 ) Only sites at which leopards were extant at the time of study are included (NP: national park) …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leopard (Panthera pardus) predation on a red-tailed monkey (Cercopithecus ascanius) in the Issa Valley, western Tanzania

McLester

Sweeney²,

Stewart

et al. 2018

Primates

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Predation is predicted to be an important selection pressure for primates. Evidence for this hypothesis is rare, however, due to the scarcity of direct observations of primate predation. We describe an observation of leopard (Panthera pardus) predation on a red-tailed monkey (Cercopithecus ascanius schmidti) at the Issa Valley, a savanna-woodland mosaic landscape in western Tanzania. We compare rates of evidence of leopard presence between Issa and other primate study sites in sub-Saharan Africa. An increase in direct observations of leopards at Issa in recent years suggests that leopards may be habituating to researcher presence.

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Socio-ecological gap analysis to forecast species range contractions for conservation

Harris

Murphy

Green

et al. 2023

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Conservation requires both a needs assessment and prioritization scheme for planning and implementation. Range maps are critical for understanding and conserving biodiversity, but current range maps often omit content, negating important metrics of variation in populations and places. Here, we integrate a myriad of conditions that are spatially explicit across distributions of carnivores to identify gaps in capacity necessary for their conservation. Expanding on traditional gap analyses that focus almost exclusively on quantifying discordance in protected area coverage across a species’ range, our work aggregates threat layers (e.g., drought, human pressures) with resources layers (e.g., protected areas, cultural diversity) to identify gaps in available conservation capacity (ACC) across ranges for 91 African carnivores. Our model indicated that all species have some portion of their range at risk of contraction, with an average of 15 percentage range loss. We found that the ACC differed based on body size and taxonomy. Results deviated from current perceptions of extinction risks for species with an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) threat status of Least Concern and yielded insights for species categorized as Data Deficient. Our socio-ecological gap analysis presents a geospatial approach to inform decision-making and resource allocation in conservation. Ultimately, our work advances forecasting dynamics of species’ ranges that are increasingly vital in an era of great socio-ecological change to mitigate human–wildlife conflict and promote inclusive carnivore conservation across geographies.

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Leopard abundance, distribution and food habits in the Mt. Rungwe–Kitulo landscape, Southern Tanzania

Cited by 5 publications

References 28 publications

Primates are an important food resource for leopards (Panthera pardus) in Mahale, Tanzania

Primates are an important food resource for leopards (Panthera pardus) in Mahale, Tanzania

Leopard (Panthera pardus) predation on a red-tailed monkey (Cercopithecus ascanius) in the Issa Valley, western Tanzania

Socio-ecological gap analysis to forecast species range contractions for conservation

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