Food Habits of Asiatic Leopards (Panthera pardus fusea) in Wolong Reserve, Sichuan, China

Abstract

Analysis of feces showed Asiatic leopards (Panthern pardus fused) to consume a varied diet over a 7-year period. Tufted deer (Elaphodus cephalophus) was replaced as the most frequent prey by bamboo rats (Rhizomys sinense). Fifteen species of large and medium-sized mammals composed the majority of the diet with pheasants, livestock, grass, and soil being eaten occasionally. Reasons for dietary shifts were unclear and may reflect leopards hunting for any readily captured prey by opportunistic encounter and perhaps by changes in hunting behavior, prey availability, or prey vulnerability associated with a bamboo die-off.