Abstract
The diet of leopards occupying human-dominated and protected areas (PAs) in Goa, India was analyzed through scat analysis. A total of 117 scats, 55 from wildlife sanctuaries/ national parks and 62 from human-dominated areas were collected and analyzed. Analysis of 55 scats from protected forest revealed the presence of only wild prey in the leopard diet, whereas 61% of scats collected from human-dominated areas consisted of only wild prey, 29% of domesticated animals, and 10% a mixture of both wild prey & domesticated animals. Of the prey biomass consumed in human-dominated areas, domestic animals constituted only 33% of the leopard diet. Among all leopard scats, 71% contained only one prey species, 28% contained two species, and 1% contained three.
Highlights
Big cats play an important role in maintaining the equilibrium of forest ecosystems, for which they serve as indicators of health and integrity
Protected areas Analysis of scats collected from protected areas (PAs) revealed the presence of only wild prey (Indian Crested Porcupine, Wild Boar, Northern Red Muntjac, Chital, Indian Hare Lepus nigricollis, Bonnet Macaque, and Gray Langur) in the diet of leopards
Scat analysis of 55 scats collected from these areas (Table 1) revealed that Wild Boar constituted a major proportion of the prey biomass (29%), followed by Chital (25%), Indian Crested Porcupine (15%), Barking Deer (13%), Gray Langur (5.6%), Bonnet Macaque (5.4%), Sambar (4.1%), and Indian Hare (3.1%)
Summary
Big cats play an important role in maintaining the equilibrium of forest ecosystems, for which they serve as indicators of health and integrity. Tigers Panthera tigris and Leopards Panthera pardus are integral parts of forest ecosystems (Karanth & Sunquist 1995) and their conservation is of prime importance. Many examples have been reported from Sanjay Gandhi National Park (Mumbai), Baria Forest Division (Gujarat), Junnar (Maharashtra), and Garhwal (Himalaya), and conflicts are becoming increasingly prominent with an increasing human population and expanding developments leading to competition for shrinking resources. This presents major obstacles to the conservation of leopards, and a comprehensive regionspecific study of their ecology and biology is essential for long-term conservation. There is a chance of error if molecular methods are not used to confirm species identity (Laguardia et al 2015; Akrim et al 2018)
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