Leopard Predation Thread

[Twico5]

(04-18-2022, 02:18 AM)Styx38 Wrote:

(04-18-2022, 01:29 AM)Twico5 Wrote:

(04-18-2022, 12:35 AM)Styx38 Wrote:

(04-16-2022, 11:51 PM)Twico5 Wrote:

(04-16-2022, 11:26 PM)Styx38 Wrote:

(04-16-2022, 02:02 AM)Twico5 Wrote:

(04-16-2022, 12:17 AM)Styx38 Wrote:

(04-13-2022, 02:58 PM)Luipaard Wrote: Leopard attempting to kill a kiang, the largest species of wild ass

*This image is copyright of its original author

Kambiz Baradarani

This may actually be a Snow Leopard in odd lighting.

The main reason is that Kiang tend to live deep in the Tibetan Plateau, while Common Leopards tend to live on the forested Eastern/Southern corners.

It is not out of the realm of possibility that they won't meet, but it would be an odd ball situation.

However, Kiang seem to be a part of Snow Leopard and Himalayan Wolf diet as opposed to the Common Leopard.

That being said, this is still an impressive attempt. A Kiang is a Horse-sized Wild Ass, so it would be tough prey for even Lions and Tigers.

I agree. They actually do live in the same regions but in different ecosystems/environments. There is one national park with both common leopards and kiangs but these two species would still almost never encounter each other.

The Leopard and Kiang could possibly meet somewhere around the Annapurna-Manaslu Conservation area.

Also, is there a source for the Leopard with a Crocodile kill?

Sanjiangyuan national park in northern tibet has a very isolated population of leopards as well as kiangs. Leopards here are exclusively found in the high altitude forests though and the same would go for the annapurna region 

Source: 
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8hB1WohixZ/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

If I am not mistaken, Leopards prefer the lower elevation forests compared to the high altitude habitats of Snow Leopards.

This is why they practically never meet each other.

Also, thanks for the source.

Leopards certainly do not have an elevation preference. It is true that in some areas, (like in nepal or india) snow leopards are found in higher altitudes while leopards are found in the forested lowlands. But in the qinghai-tibet plateau a lot of these mountain ranges are almost entirely forested, and the two cats dont display spatial partitioning from each other. 

Recently, researchers found a new leopard population here that consisted of at least 30 individuals. They also found 20 or so snow leopards living in the exact same area co-existing with these leopards. This is one of many areas in the qinghai-tibet plateau that are home to resident snow leopards and resident common leopards. 

*This image is copyright of its original author

From what I have searched up, Leopards are only recently moving into Snow Leopard habitat due to external factors like climate change.

"But, they add, climate change could make that more complicated.


"In a changing climate, we expect the tree line to move up the slopes and that's encroaching into the snow leopard's habitat," said Byron Weckworth, China programme director with Panthera, a conservation organisation dedicated to preserving wild cats.


Some studies have shown that the upper forest tree line is already being pushed higher."

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38610862


Outside of that, there habitat was still separated by elevation.

 "Snow leopards live at an altitude above 3,000m in typically open and rocky areas.

Common leopards' habitats include forests and woodlands at lower elevations.

Scientists say the lower reaches of snow leopard's habitats and the upper limits of common leopards' territories have always overlapped in the Himalayas and other high mountains in Asia."

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38610862


Of course, I am not denying that there may be overlap without the external factors. It is just not properly studied yet.

"Koustubh Sharma, the Snow Leopard’s Senior Regional Ecologist, believes that there could be more overlap between the two leopard species in the future, as climate change impacts their habitats. “In parts of the Eastern Himalayas, for instance, the climate is becoming warmer and more humid, which might some of the habitat predominantly used by snow leopards today more attractive to common leopards”, he says.

However, he asserts that we have no evidence that such overlaps are a new phenomenon. An absence of evidence cannot be considered as an evidence of absence. It is possible that the two cats have always had some degree of overlap, and have developed strategies to simply avoid each other. We might just not have had the technology and luck to observe this earlier.

Dr. Wen Cheng from Shan Shui told the BBC that the availability of food will be key. “The possibility for co-existence or conflict highly depends on the abundance and diversity of wild prey,” he said."

https://snowleopard.org/sharing-spots-sn...tat-china/

Yeah that’s possible. Leopards won’t live in non-forested areas so if the tree line is being pushed up then leopards may be getting more comfortable expanding their territories up in higher altitudes. 

*This image is copyright of its original author

Also, this isn’t something new. A while back I found this old book on google books that mentioned how in the Indian state of Kashmir, common leopards were recorded at higher altitudes than snow leopards. Common leopards have a preference for forested areas, elevation doesn’t really seem to matter which is why they occasionally share the same areas as snow leopards Reply