Diet of the Pallas's cat (Otocolobus manul) in Mongolian steppe habitat during a population peak of Brandt's voles

Abstract

Pallas's cats range across Central Asia and commonly consume small mammals. Most studies on Pallas's cats' diets found that they strongly selected particular prey species, such as pika (Ochotona spp.). Pika occurrence in Pallas's cat diet was disproportionately high compared to availability in Central Mongolia. We conducted research into Pallas's cat ecology in Khalzan Soum, Sukhbaatar Aimag since 2018. Brandt's vole density started to increase in 2017, peaked in 2018–2019, and decreased in 2020. We collected feces of Pallas's cats every month from May 2019 to May 2020. During this time, the monthly percent occurrence of Brandt's voles in Pallas's cats' diet ranged from 82.6 to 89.9%. We found a significant correlation between rodent abundance and occurrence in scats of Pallas's cats during the kitten rearing season. Brandt's vole (Lasiopodomys brandtii), Daurian ground squirrel (Ochotona dauurica) and Mongolian hamster (Allocricetulus curtatus) were significantly preferred. Our research provides insights into how Pallas's cats play an important role in biological control in this ecosystem during a Brandt's vole's population irruption.