Small cats in big trouble? Diet, activity, and habitat use of jungle cats and leopard cats in threatened dry deciduous forests, Cambodia.

Susana Rostro‐García,Christin Minge,Rachel Crouthers,Marc Kéry,Prum Sovanna,David W Macdonald,Visattha In,Jan F Kamler,Thomas N E Gray,Milou Groenenberg,Anthony Caragiulo,Chanratana Pin

doi:10.1002/ece3.7316

Abstract

Dry deciduous dipterocarp forests (DDF) cover about 15%–20% of Southeast Asia and are the most threatened forest type in the region. The jungle cat (Felis chaus) is a DDF specialist that occurs only in small isolated populations in Southeast Asia. Despite being one of the rarest felids in the region, almost nothing is known about its ecology. We investigated the ecology of jungle cats and their resource partitioning with the more common leopard cats (Prionailurus bengalensis) in a DDF‐dominated landscape in Srepok Wildlife Sanctuary, Cambodia. We used camera‐trap data collected from 2009 to 2019 and DNA‐confirmed scats to determine the temporal, dietary and spatial overlap between jungle cats and leopard cats. The diet of jungle cats was relatively diverse and consisted of murids (56% biomass consumed), sciurids (15%), hares (Lepus peguensis; 12%), birds (8%), and reptiles (8%), whereas leopard cats had a narrower niche breadth and a diet dominated by smaller prey, primarily murids (73%). Nonetheless, dietary overlap was high because both felid species consumed predominantly small rodents. Both species were primarily nocturnal and had high temporal overlap. Two‐species occupancy modelling suggested jungle cats were restricted to DDF and had low occupancy, whereas leopard cats had higher occupancy and were habitat generalists. Our study confirmed that jungle cats are DDF specialists that likely persist in low numbers due to the harsh conditions of the dry season in this habitat, including annual fires and substantial decreases in small vertebrate prey. The lower occupancy and more diverse diet of jungle cats, together with the broader habitat use of leopard cats, likely facilitated the coexistence of these species. The low occupancy of jungle cats in DDF suggests that protection of large areas of DDF will be required for the long‐term conservation of this rare felid in Southeast Asia.

Highlights

Southeast Asia is considered both one of the most important biodiversity hotspots and one of the most biologically threatened regions worldwide (Hughes, 2017)
We made the following predictions: (a) dietary overlap between species will be relatively low, owing to consumption of larger prey, including carrion and ungulate fawns, by jungle cats; (b) activity overlap between species will be low, because jungle cats will be diurnal whereas leopard cats will be nocturnal; (c) habitat use will differ between species, because jungle cats will use mostly deciduous dipterocarp forests (DDF), whereas leopard cats will use mostly evergreen forests; (d) occupancy will be higher for jungle cats than for leopard cats because DDF dominates our study site, and; (e) leopard cats will spatially avoid jungle cats owing to the larger body size and presumed behavioral dominance of the jungle cat
We could not determine if jungle cats and leopard cats were competing for limited food resources, dietary overlap between the species was relatively high in the dry season, which did not support our prediction

Summary

| INTRODUCTION

Southeast Asia is considered both one of the most important biodiversity hotspots and one of the most biologically threatened regions worldwide (Hughes, 2017). Another mechanism that may facilitate coexistence of ecologically similar species is spatial partitioning, when food resources are limited and dietary overlap is high In such cases, subordinate species may use different habitat types to avoid potential encounters with dominant species and thereby reduce interference competition (Foster et al, 2013; Horne et al, 2009; Scognamillo et al, 2003). We made the following predictions: (a) dietary overlap between species will be relatively low, owing to consumption of larger prey, including carrion and ungulate fawns, by jungle cats; (b) activity overlap between species will be low, because jungle cats will be diurnal whereas leopard cats will be nocturnal; (c) habitat use will differ between species, because jungle cats will use mostly DDF, whereas leopard cats will use mostly evergreen forests; (d) occupancy will be higher for jungle cats than for leopard cats because DDF dominates our study site, and; (e) leopard cats will spatially avoid jungle cats owing to the larger body size and presumed behavioral dominance of the jungle cat

| METHODS

Findings

| DISCUSSION