TY - JOUR
T1 - Dependence of the leopard Panthera pardus fusca in Jaipur, India, on domestic animals
AU - Kumbhojkar, Swapnil
AU - Yosef, Reuven
AU - Kosicki, Jakub Z.
AU - Kwiatkowska, Patrycja K.
AU - Tryjanowski, Piotr
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International.
PY - 2021/9/1
Y1 - 2021/9/1
N2 - The ecology and predator-prey dynamics of large felids in the tropics have largely been studied in natural systems where wild ungulates constitute the majority of the prey base. However, in tropical countries where communities are primarily agrarian, the high density of domestic animals in human-dominated landscapes can be a potential prey source for large carnivores. We demonstrate almost complete dependence of the Vulnerable leopard Panthera pardus fusca in the Jhalana Reserve Forest in Jaipur, north-west India on domestic animals as prey. We analysed 132 leopard scats collected during the dry season of November 2017-April 2018. Domestic animals comprised the majority of the leopards' prey (89.5% frequency of occurrence): dogs Canis lupus familiaris (44%), cats Felis catus (13%), goats Capra aegagrus hircus (16%) and cattle Bos taurus (15%). Wild species, which occurred in the leopards' diet at a relatively low frequency, were rodents, the hare Lepus nigricollis, small Indian civet Viverricula indica, rhesus macaque Macaca mulatta, northern plains grey langur Semnopithecus entellus and mongoose Herpestes edwardsii. Diet is also a function of availability of potential prey, but no data are available on the density of the leopard's wild prey species in Jhalana Reserve Forest. Nevertheless, our results suggest that abundance of domestic prey around Jhalana Reserve Forest sustains the c. 25 known leopards. We conclude that these leopards, by preying on feral dogs in an urban environment, could be considered as suppliers of a service to the human population amongst whom they thrive, although this potentially exposes the leopards to the canine distemper virus.
AB - The ecology and predator-prey dynamics of large felids in the tropics have largely been studied in natural systems where wild ungulates constitute the majority of the prey base. However, in tropical countries where communities are primarily agrarian, the high density of domestic animals in human-dominated landscapes can be a potential prey source for large carnivores. We demonstrate almost complete dependence of the Vulnerable leopard Panthera pardus fusca in the Jhalana Reserve Forest in Jaipur, north-west India on domestic animals as prey. We analysed 132 leopard scats collected during the dry season of November 2017-April 2018. Domestic animals comprised the majority of the leopards' prey (89.5% frequency of occurrence): dogs Canis lupus familiaris (44%), cats Felis catus (13%), goats Capra aegagrus hircus (16%) and cattle Bos taurus (15%). Wild species, which occurred in the leopards' diet at a relatively low frequency, were rodents, the hare Lepus nigricollis, small Indian civet Viverricula indica, rhesus macaque Macaca mulatta, northern plains grey langur Semnopithecus entellus and mongoose Herpestes edwardsii. Diet is also a function of availability of potential prey, but no data are available on the density of the leopard's wild prey species in Jhalana Reserve Forest. Nevertheless, our results suggest that abundance of domestic prey around Jhalana Reserve Forest sustains the c. 25 known leopards. We conclude that these leopards, by preying on feral dogs in an urban environment, could be considered as suppliers of a service to the human population amongst whom they thrive, although this potentially exposes the leopards to the canine distemper virus.
KW - Diet
KW - India
KW - Jhalana
KW - Panthera pardus fusca
KW - environmental service
KW - human-dominated landscape
KW - leopard
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85094677867&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S0030605319001145
DO - 10.1017/S0030605319001145
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85094677867
SN - 0030-6053
VL - 55
SP - 692
EP - 698
JO - Oryx
JF - Oryx
IS - 5
ER -