Persian Leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor)

[Pckts]

(05-16-2019, 01:52 AM)Styx38 Wrote:

Pckts Wrote:First it was "leopards dont kill sambar" then it was "leopards dont kill Sambar in the gir" now its "all sambar killed in gir are juveniles" 

Quote:I've already posted predation on adult Sambar, the study was conducted by scat and kill site and Sambar is the 2nd most frequent prey item. You claiming them all to be sub adult is unfounded. The study only says that kill sites didnt have an adult Sambar but the scat samples contained Sambar as the 2nd highest valuation and considering out of the 50+ sites only 16 were fresh, even that is hardly conclusive.

You didn't read my sources. They point out that the predation on Sambar (in Tiger/Lion habitats) is either low or mainly on juveniles. 

I don't deny the Leopard's capability. The experts stated their doubts.

Pckts Wrote:Your claim about my favorite sub species is ridiculous, it's a childish notion. When someone disagrees with you it's not always because they are bias, considering I've shown numerous measurements, given exames and posted data I'd say it's coming from a place of science and not blind loyalty. I'd also say I've earned the benefit of the doubt and I'm sure most here would agree. 

Quote:You think all Leopards take their kills up a tree?
Leopards eat off the ground all the time, the plains dont just have trees like the forest of India, they are spread out and can be quite far from each other. Leopards make kills that sometimes arent near a tree or too big to haul so they drag it to a hidden spot and they consume it. Sometimes they are ran off, sometimes they hold their ground, sometimes they eat in piece, etc. But the fact remains, the only reason they compete against all these other predators is because the prey biomass is so high.

So you should accept that Persian Leopards produce the biggest individuals, rather than repetitively telling us a lesser amount of Plains Leopards can reach the size.

The tree thing is correlated with competitors, with the most caches occurring in Spotted Hyena Habitat. 

Also, speaking of biodiversity, a predator can still thrive on adequate food source.

For example, the Leopards in Sri Lanka, Central Africa and Iran still have decent food sources. The only difference is that they have no major competitor to usurp their kills, so they can easily make more big kills compared to their Savanna counterparts.

For example, the leopards in the Congo have been known to kill adult Okapi, at least more frequently than Savanna Leopards have been known to take on adult zebra.
There are some occasional instances of plains leopards killing something as big animals like adult zebra, but that is quite rare, while there were many more observations and records of Rainforest Leopards taking down similar sized Okapi despite being lesser studied, documented and photographed.
Same thing with Persian leopards and adult Maral deer and Sri Lankan Leopard with Sambar deer (or an Indian Leopard and Sambar deer in Tiger-less habitat).

The point is the frequency of larger kills may correlate with higher frequency of larger males, as can be seen with Persian Leopards.

"You didn't read my sources. They point out that the predation on Sambar (in Tiger/Lion habitats) is either low or mainly on juveniles. "

Who points out?
If you're only speaking on one study where it says that Kill Sites only showed Juveniles (Only 16 of 50 were fresh) while Scat Samples showed the 2nd most abundant prey item as being Sambar and of course there is no way to know what Age or Sex is in the scat sample.

*This image is copyright of its original author

"Same thing with Persian leopards and adult Maral deer and Sri Lankan Leopard with Sambar deer (or an Indian Leopard and Sambar deer in Tiger-less habitat)."
Male Adult Sambar killed by Leopard in Tadoba. *Tiger dominated*

Sambar were found to be the 2nd most preyed item in the GIR per scat *Lion Dominated*

*This image is copyright of its original author

In Kruger, Lion Dominated. Leopards still take Wildabeest, Kudu and Warthog regularly. 

*This image is copyright of its original author

Leopards Taking Sambar regularly in shared Tiger habitat



https://www.wcs.org/wildcards/posts/a-leopard-makes-a-kill
Leopard Kills Sambar in Bhadra tiger reserve

*This image is copyright of its original author

Leopard making kill in Nagarhole *Tiger Dominated*

*This image is copyright of its original author

A Female Leopard with a Sambar Deer Kill at #Satpura National Park *Tiger Dominated*

Photo Courtesy: Chinmay Despande

*This image is copyright of its original author

Leopard sitting on rock with sambar kill .

#sariskatigerreserave

#sariskanationalpark #sariskawildlifesanctuary #sariskawildlife #rajasthanwildlife .

2018 .
S.T.R. ( Sariska tiger reserve ).

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Leopards w/Sambar kill, Ranthambore. 

Every location shown is a Tiger or Lion dominated territory yet all places show Leopard predation on Adult Sambar or Sambar sized animals. 




"So you should accept that Persian Leopards produce the biggest individuals, rather than repetitively telling us a lesser amount of Plains Leopards can reach the size."

They don't, hence why you have Skulls that have scored higher with weights that match.
How exactly have they produced larger individuals if their Skull size and weights have been matched or beaten?
If you mean they produce larger individuals more often, then yes, I agree.
But again, Africa is comprised of 1000s of Leopards, of course they'll have a much larger range since Africa encompasses the entire continent and has many different ecosystems that will affect prey preferences compared to the minimal # of Persian  Leopards.  


" The tree thing is correlated with competitors, with the most caches occurring in Spotted Hyena Habitat. "



Also, speaking of biodiversity, a predator can still thrive on adequate food source."




Again, it has to do with prey size, location and tree availability. 

*This image is copyright of its original author

But of course, stashing a prey is ideal and they'll do so if the criteria is right, why wouldn't they?





"For example, the Leopards in Sri Lanka, Central Africa and Iran still have decent food sources. The only difference is that they have no major competitor to usurp their kills, so they can easily make more big kills compared to their Savanna counterparts."

Again, nothing close to the Biomass available in Africa, and every location shows that a healthy supply of Apex predators and Leopards correlates with the largest ungulate prey biomass available.



Lastly is the fact that Leopards prefer Impala... Of course they do, they are the most abundant species available, offer the least chance for injury and fit right in to the 10-60kg prey weight range preferred by all Leopard Subspecies. Just like the Chital in India, the Impala is a good sized animal that is more than enough food for a Leopard, in fact, in Kruger the Impala consisted of half of the prey taken by Lions just to show exactly how abundant they are but to draw some imaginary line there and say "well, no other animal is taken as much as Impala or Chital, so obviously it's an unusual occurrence" is skewing the facts. I can show case after case of Leopards taking many different prey items, not just one exceptional event but many occurrences. There is nothing unusual about it, it's fact and to hold it up to the standard of the most numerous ungulate in Africa or India is misleading.

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