Movement patterns and athletic performance of leopards in the Okavango Delta.

Tatjana Y Hubel,Alan M Wilson,Kasim Rafiq,Krystyna A Golabek,J Weldon Mcnutt

doi:10.1098/rspb.2017.2622

Abstract

Although leopards are the most widespread of all the big cats and are known for their adaptability, they are elusive and little is known in detail about their movement and hunting energetics. We used high-resolution GPS/IMU (inertial measurement unit) collars to record position, activity and the first high-speed movement data on four male leopards in the Okavango Delta, an area with high habitat diversity and habitat fragmentation. Leopards in this study were generally active and conducted more runs during the night, with peaks in activity and number of runs in the morning and evening twilight. Runs were generally short (less than 100 m) and relatively slow (maximum speed 5.3 m s-1, mean of individual medians) compared to other large predators. Average daily travel distance was 11 km and maximum daily travel distance was 29 km. No direct correlation was found between average daily temperature and travel distance or between season and travel distance. Total daily energy requirements based on locomotor cost and basal metabolic rate varied little between individuals and over time. This study provides novel insights into movement patterns and athletic performance of leopards through quantitative high-resolution measurement of the locomotor, energetic, spatial and temporal movement characteristics. The results are unbiased by methodological and observational limitations characteristic of previous studies and demonstrate the utility of applying new technologies to field studies of elusive nocturnal species.

Highlights

Leopards are the most widespread and numerous of the large cats with a distribution ranging widely across Africa and Asia [1]
The limitation of collar battery life means that most studies use a sample schedule that prolongs collar life at the expense of high-resolution data collection, often relying on daily or hourly measurements and recording no data on the most fine-scale and high-speed movements such as hunting or escape events which are often essential for survival
We obtained the first measurements of athletic performance of leopards and used high-resolution movement data to estimate energetic cost of daily locomotion and analyse territory use

Summary

Introduction

Leopards are the most widespread and numerous of the large cats with a distribution ranging widely across Africa and Asia [1]. These limitations have been overcome by a new generation of solar rechargeable GPS/IMU collars, which are able to dynamically switch sample rate based on the animals’ activity to provide long-term high-resolution movement monitoring including very detailed data on high-speed events Such detailed data enable insight into daily locomotor costs, habitat use, hunting strategies and factors that impact hunting success [22 – 25] and enable investigation of intra- and interspecies interaction between collared individuals [26]. We use high temporal and spatial resolution GPS data on four male leopards in the Okavango Delta in order to (a) determine daily activity and distance travelled (b) estimate the energetic locomotor costs, (c) investigate movement spatially with reference to territory boundaries and (d) quantitatively characterize high-speed locomotion and evaluate athletic performance. This resulted in 270 trials with 162 of those trials exceeding the three strides and greater than 3 m s21 criterion and being classified as runs

Apr May June July Aug

Discussion

Conclusion