Abstract
Characterisations of the Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) diet during three distinguished seasons (monsoon, winter and summer) in the semi-arid region of western India was under study. Diet was estimated using scat analysis, based on the calculation of Index of Relative Importance (IRI) in order to determine the contribution of different food items in the Sloth bear diet. Sloth bears were observed to feed on a wide variety of prey items. They are specialized on insect prey, particularly termites or ants, and are considered as myrmecophagous. The myrmecophagousis character was confirmed by the highest score of insect part (IRI = 21.37) from the samples (n = 566), which was followed by Diospyros melanoxylon (IRI Score 13.51), Ficus spp. (IRI score 12.69) and Cassia fistula (IRI Score 10.13). Sloth bear dietary proportions varied among the three seasons under the study interval. Data suggested that the Sloth bear is essentially behaving as an omnivore, having similar diet (in terms of high incidence of wild fruits and insects) with the bears inhabiting semi-arid regions. The opportunistic and generalist strategy of selecting diet ingredients has probably helped the species to survive in semi-arid habitat across the North Gujarat.
Highlights
IntroductionScat analysis is increasingly being used to determine the diets of pinnipeds (seals and sea lions), canids (wolves, dogs, coyotes, and foxes), ursids (bears), felids (cats), viverrids (civets and genets) and mustelids (otters and badgers) (Hewitt and Robbins, 1996; Pardini, 1998; Patterson et al, 1998; Ferreras and Macdonald, 1999; Krueger et al, 1999; Virgos et al, 1999; Bull, 2000; Núñez et al, 2000; Bartoszewicz and Zalewski, 2003; Hutchings, 2003; Moleon and Gil-Sainchez, 2003; Silva and Talamoni, 2003; Malo et al, 2004; Mukherjee et al, 2004; Trite and Joy, 2005)
Scat analysis is increasingly being used to determine the diets of pinnipeds, canids, ursids, felids, viverrids and mustelids (Hewitt and Robbins, 1996; Pardini, 1998; Patterson et al, 1998; Ferreras and Macdonald, 1999; Krueger et al, 1999; Virgos et al, 1999; Bull, 2000; Núñez et al, 2000; Bartoszewicz and Zalewski, 2003; Hutchings, 2003; Moleon and Gil-Sainchez, 2003; Silva and Talamoni, 2003; Malo et al, 2004; Mukherjee et al, 2004; Trite and Joy, 2005)
The present study examined the diet of the Sloth bear during peculiar three seasons, the monsoon, winter and summer over a period of three years, in semi-arid region
Summary
Scat analysis is increasingly being used to determine the diets of pinnipeds (seals and sea lions), canids (wolves, dogs, coyotes, and foxes), ursids (bears), felids (cats), viverrids (civets and genets) and mustelids (otters and badgers) (Hewitt and Robbins, 1996; Pardini, 1998; Patterson et al, 1998; Ferreras and Macdonald, 1999; Krueger et al, 1999; Virgos et al, 1999; Bull, 2000; Núñez et al, 2000; Bartoszewicz and Zalewski, 2003; Hutchings, 2003; Moleon and Gil-Sainchez, 2003; Silva and Talamoni, 2003; Malo et al, 2004; Mukherjee et al, 2004; Trite and Joy, 2005). Diet descriptions were commonly made by determining the frequency of occurrence and food items’ abundance over a monthly, seasonally or yearly time period As these measures alone are thought to be insufficient to define the relative importance of each food item in the scat content and for a species’ diet, many authors have used compound indices including two or more independent measures. In this regard, Index of Relative Importance (IRI) is reliable in order to compare the results and to indicate the consumed food in different seasons (Gümüs et al, 2002; Home and Jhala, 2009). Food utilization is an important aspect in the study of carnivore ecology, since trophic resources dominate several aspects of their biology (Macdonald, 1983; Bekoff et al, 1984)
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