Leopard abundance, distribution and food habits in the Mt. Rungwe–Kitulo landscape, Southern Tanzania

Abstract

AbstractBetween 2003 and 2010, 2178.5 km of transect was walked and 76 leopard scats counted in the Mt. Rungwe–Kitulo landscape. The number of scats per 10 km ranged between 0 and 0.83 in Mt Rungwe and between 0 and 1.41 in Kitulo. Leopards chiefly selected bamboo forest between 2500 and 2950 m asl. Some 126 interviews revealed that leopards were encountered more in the 1980s than latterly. Leopards used to attack livestock, but in the 1960s and 1970s, were heavily poisoned. We analysed 59 scats for undigested materials and compared them to a hair reference atlas. Some 135 different prey items were found, with an average of 2.3 items per scat. Some 14 samples were identified to species level and four to genus level. The average prey body weight was 5.9 kg. The diet was dominated by small mammals and rodent species up to 5.0 kg (59.57%) of biomass, followed by carnivores (29.14%), primate species (8.91%) and small rodents <1 kg (2.24%). The highest relative biomass consumed was prey classes of 1.1–5.0 kg (61.06%), followed by prey 5.1–50 kg (35.22%) and small rodents <1 kg (2.24%). The total absence of ungulate prey and conservation implications are discussed.