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

Abstract

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Combining vertebrate mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene sequencing and shotgun metagenomic sequencing to investigate the diet of the leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) in Korea

“…In addition to these studies, consumption of deer by hunting or scavenging by leopard cats has been reported, e.g., Tragulus javanicus (lesser mouse deer) in Thailand [ 9 ] and Muntiacus spp. (muntjac) in Cambodia [ 15 ] and Laos [ 16 ]…”

“…sibirica was reported to be detected from a feces of leopard cat in Korea [ 17 ]. Although it is unclear whether it is predation or scavenging, it has been reported that carnivorous animals were detected in the feces of leopard cats, e.g., Nyctereutes procyonoides (raccoon dog) in the Russian Far East [ 11 ], Urva auropunctata (small Indian mongoose) and Herpestes edwardsii (grey mongoose) in Pakistan [ 13 ], and civet in Cambodia [ 15 ].…”

“…Studies on predation and feeding behavior of leopard cats have been conducted in countries, such as Singapore [ 7 ], Malaysia [ 8 ], Thailand [ 9 , 10 ], Russia [ 11 ], Indonesia [ 12 ], Pakistan [ 13 ], India [ 14 ], Cambodia [ 15 ], Laos [ 16 ], Korea [ 17 ], and Japan [ 18 , 22 ]. In these studies, prey items were identified by direct observation of hunting [ 12 ], observation of stomach contents [ 18 ], and microscopic observation of hair, teeth, feathers, toenails, and bones contained in collected fecal samples [ 7 – 11 , 13 – 17 ].…”

Home range, habitat selection, density, and diet of golden jackals in the Eastern Plains Landscape, Cambodia

“…We conclude that the dense wide columns of processional termites are relatively efficient for jackals to lick up and consume in large quantities, thereby providing an important source of protein for jackals during the dry season in DDF, especially when larger prey items become less available. Interestingly, concurrent dietary studies in SWS using DNA-confirmed scats showed that leopards, dholes, jungle cats, and leopard cats did not consume processional termites beyond negligible amounts ( Rostro-García et al 2018 , In press ; Kamler et al 2020d ), indicating jackals were the only canid or felid species to take advantage of this food resource during the dry season.…”

“…We took a random sample of 10 putative jackal scats collected from shrubs and tufts of grass, and sent them to the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History (New York), who confirmed that the scats were from jackals based on mitochondrial DNA analysis as described by Caragiulo et al (2014) . Concurrent diet studies used DNA analysis to confirm that other carnivore scats collected in SWS belonged to leopards ( n = 73 scats— Rostro-García et al 2018 ), dholes ( n = 165— Kamler et al 2020d ), jungle cats ( n = 16) and leopard cats ( n = 130— Rostro-García et al In press ), none of which were found to defecate on small shrubs or tufts of grass. We therefore were confident that all the carnivore scats collected from small shrubs and tufts of grass along trails and dirt tracks were from jackals.…”