Diet Selection of Leopards (Panthera pardus) in the Niphad, Nasik Landscape of Maharashtra, India

Abstract

Amongst the large cat species throughout the globe, leopard (Panthera pardus) is found to be the most widely distributed one of the largest obligate terrestrial carnivore and persecuted member of cat family which preys on a large range of species. In most of the regions in India, leopards coexist with the tiger (Panthera tigris) and with lion (Panthera leo) across much or certain areas of its distribution. As it exhibits opportunistic feeding behaviour with exceptional ability to survive in varied habitats. This highly adaptable behaviour of leopards leads to its frequent human interactions which usually results in human-wildlife conflict Leopards are living in very close proximity with humans in agro-pastoral landscapes in India as their diet patterns also reflected their dependence on domestic animals as well as wild animals present in the landscape. The agro-pastoral landscapes give good cover to leopards to hide because of annual cropping system and pastoralism being one the important source of livelihood for the people. We studied the diet patterns of leopards (Panthera pardus) in the crop lands of Niphad in Nashik district Maharashtra, India. The total area of Niphad is 1,048.63 sq.km with population density of 470 per sq.km. We analyzed 30 scats of leopards. From analysis it was found that leopards diet consists of 11 different species of wild and domestic prey. The wild prey consists of small Indian civet Viverricula indica, grey mongoose Herpestes edwardsi, langur Semnopithecus sp., common palm civet Paradoxurus hermaphroditus, field rat Rattus rattus, Indian fox Vulpes bengalensis, small Indian mongoose Herpestes auropunctatus and domestic prey consists of dog Canis lupus familiaris, cow Bos Taurus, domestic caft Felis catus, goat Capra aegagrus hircus and birds.