Abstract
The Common Leopard Panthera pardus is one of the most widely distributed of all big cats. It is a threatened species throughout its range due to the degradation of natural habitat, poaching and persecution as a killer of humans and livestock. The purpose of this study was to determine the composition of the Common Leopard diet in the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve (DHR) of Nepal. Among prey species Barking Deer (Muntiacus muntjak) were observed most frequently (18%) in leopard scats, while Blue Sheep (Pseudois nayaur) were observed less frequently (6%).
Highlights
The Common Leopard Panthera pardus is one of the most widely distributed of all big cats (Bailey 1993), occupying an array of habitats in Asia and Africa
There was no significant difference between the frequency of occurrence of different prey species and there was a positive correlation between each prey species and the Common Leopard diet (F2 = 0.889, df = 16, p > 0.05; R2= 0.84)
Local people reported that within the last 4 years snow leopards have been frequently visiting the northern part of the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve (DHR), i.e. the Barse (Mansun area and northeastern site of Barse Duri), Gustung, Seng and Dhogadi blocks
Summary
The Common Leopard Panthera pardus is one of the most widely distributed of all big cats (Bailey 1993), occupying an array of habitats in Asia and Africa. Its behaviour varies according to the habitat it occupies (Seidensticker et al 1990; Bailey 1993; Daniel 1996) These leopards have such a diverse and wide distribution due to their highly adaptable hunting and feeding practices, and their solitary nature. Blue Sheep are assumed as the main prey species of Snow Leopards and other predators within the high altitude biomes of Eurasia. They are a species that are trophy hunted in DHR and the conservation of Blue Sheep is of international and national concern given its keystone prey status. The main objective of this study was to determine the proportion of the Common Leopard diet that consists of Blue Sheep during the summer
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