Population Density and Driving Factors of North China Leopards in Tie Qiao Shan Nature Reserve

Abstract

The North China leopard (Panthera pardus japonesis) is a rare leopard subspecies distributed only in China. In this study, we conducted camera-trap surveys of a North China Leopard population in Tie Qiao Shan Nature Reserve, Shanxi Province, China. We estimated population abundance and density distribution, and explored the effects of distribution of different prey populations, habitat, and anthropogenic factors on the spatial distribution of North China leopard density. Our results suggested that the North China leopard density was 4.23 individuals/100 km2, and that 17.98 individuals might live within the study area. The population density of the North China leopard increased with the distribution of wild boars, and, on the contrary, decreased with the distribution of roe deer. We found that habitat environmental factors and anthropogenic interference also significantly affected the population density and spatial distribution of the North China leopard. These insights informed us that in order to protect this predator, which is only distributed in China, we should adopt a comprehensive customized adaptive landscape protection strategy.

Conservation potentials and limitations of large carnivores in protected areas: A case study in Northeast China

“…The average potential prey-supportable density of Amur leopards (4.37 individuals/100 km 2 , Table 1) is higher than the current density in both China (0.38-0.62 individuals/100 km 2 , Qi et al, 2015;Vitkalova et al, 2018) and Russia (1.34-2.64 individuals/100 km 2 , Lukarevskiy & Lukarevskiy, 2019;Vitkalova et al, 2018). Although our results seem high, in fact, leopard populations in other areas can indeed maintain higher densities (Borah et al, 2014;Zhu et al, 2021). Taking into account the current population of leopards, the development potential of the Amur leopards in NTLNP is considered to be greater than that of Amur tigers based on environmental carrying capacity of prey.…”

Temporal activity patterns of North China leopards and their prey in response to moonlight and habitat factors

“…The climate is warming temperate in summer and continental in winter. The annual rainfall is about 600 mm and the average annual temperature is about 6°C, while the daily average temperature recorded in this area is above 10°C (Zhu et al, 2021 ).…”

“…The majority of people practice Buddhism and their livelihood is mainly based on agricultural crops and livestock (goat Capra hircus , sheep Ovis aries , and cow Bos indicus ), along with pets or stray dogs which are found in each village. Typically, anthropogenic activities occur during the daytime in the low elevation area of the buffer zone and rarely in the core zone around secondary and tertiary roads (Zhu et al, 2021 ). The climate is warming temperate in summer and continental in winter.…”

“…The aims of the current study were to examine the temporal activity patterns of leopards and prey species, as well as the effects of human‐related activities, habitat factors, and lunar illumination. Specifically, we tested the following three hypotheses: (1) the effects of different moon phases on nocturnal spatiotemporal overlap intensity will be distinct among different predator–prey pairs, and we predict that more intense moonlight will increase predation risk by enhancing the ability of predators to detect prey (Bhatt et al, 2021 ), thus leading to decreased activity or shifts in prey foraging efficiency in brighter nights, or prey will shift their activity to other moon phases or daytime (Botts et al, 2020 ); (2) habitat factors influence the activity response of prey to leopards during the four moon phases, and we assume that the apex predator controls spatial distribution and temporal activity of preys with respect to habitat preference or avoidance (Zhu et al, 2021 ), while cloud cover may also influence spatiotemporal distribution (Botts et al, 2020 ); (3) predator and prey species shift their temporal activity patterns during the full moon such that higher activity during the day time counters the brightness of the moon at night time. We assumed that most cats are nocturnal (Bhatt et al, 2021 ) or crepuscular, and that they hunt in the dark (Fernández Moya et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Hence, it may be logical to assume that the lunar phase could also affect hunting success and influence prey to reduce their nighttime activity and shift to daytime to reduce predatory attacks (Yang et al, 2021 ). We also expect that predator–prey daytime activity may be influenced by human activities on foot occurring at lower elevations (Qi et al, 2022 ), and that low human activity at nighttime can drive the activity of predators and prey at low elevation (Zhu et al, 2021 ), while also avoiding human settlements (Lamichhane et al, 2019 ; Qi et al, 2022 ).…”