Abstract
The leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) is the most widespread feline in Asia. It has been recorded in a range of habitats, including monoculture landscapes, such as oil palm plantations. Here, we report on a study on the presence, home range, activity patterns and diet of the species in an oil palm landscape to assess their viability as biological pest controller of rats. The study took place in United Plantations/PT SSS estate in Central Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia. From July 2014 to March 2018, we captured 11 leopard cats in purpose-built cage-traps and fitted them with VHF radio-transmitters. They were tracked for a 44 months study period, during which we collected a total of 2.031 GPS locations used for estimating the respective cats’ activities and home-ranges. The cats are strictly nocturnal and prefer to hide and rest in thick bush, primarily consisting of sword-fern (Nephrolepis sp.) during day-time, but forage both on the ground and in the palm canopy at night. The average home range (95% FK) for male leopard cats is 1.47 km2 (n = 7; SD = 0.62 km2) with slightly smaller home range for females at 1.29 km2 (n = 4; SD = 0.28 km2). All individuals studied were recorded strictly within the oil palm plantation landscape, although mangrove forest habitat makes up 7% of the greater plantation landscape. In conclusion, leopard cats survive and reproduce well in oil palm habitats and are effective biological controllers of rats that can replace the traditionally used expensive and environmentally polluting chemical rat poisons.
Highlights
There was no significant difference in home-range size between males and females (95% Fixed Kernel (FK), U = 9; P > 0.05)
The average leopard cat home-range recorded in our study (∼140 ha FK95%/∼173 ha Minimum Convex Polygon (MCP)) is much smaller than previous studies in other locations
This trend was observed in our study site where there was a strong reverse correlation between the number of rats and the number of leopard cats (Silmi et al, 2013) and 73.60% (N = 72) of the recorded prey consisted of rats
Summary
The past decade has seen a significant increase in environmental degradation and loss of ecosystem services in most parts of the world (Sodhi et al, 2004; Dobson et al, 2006; Kettunen and ten Brink, 2006; Malcolm et al, 2006; Greenpeace, 2007; Koh and Wilcove, 2008; Bradshaw et al, 2009; Butler and Laurance, 2009; Craft et al, 2009; Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO], 2009; Hoeinghaus et al, 2009; De Jong et al, 2015; Goodman and Mulik, 2015; Ghazali et al, 2016; Leopardcats as Biological Pest ControlPetrenko et al, 2016). Some mammal and bird species have been studied for their use as biological pest-controller of rats in plantation landscapes (Duckett, 1984, 1991; Silmi et al, 2013; Chua et al, 2016) and, while scarcely studied, the leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) is often recorded in oil palm plantations It is listed as “Least Concern” on the IUCN Red-list and considered common in Asia, where it ranges from southern India to Russia’s far east; to the Indonesian islands of Sumatra, Borneo and Java (Sunquist and Sunquist, 2009; Ross et al, 2015). It is listed as a “protected species” in Indonesia (Indonesian Law #07, 1999)
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