Felids Interactions - Interspecific Conflicts

[Luipaard]

(05-10-2019, 01:12 AM)Sully Wrote: And on the other hand, the leopard and snow leopard have been recorded using the same habitat in China's Sanjiangyhan nature reserve. Apologies if this has been posted already.

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For me, the overlapping of these two felines is one the most fascinating ones alongside the cougar and jaguar. The question is; how is this going to affect them?

“The snow leopard is known to thrive alongside lynx, Pallas’s cats, wolves and even bears. But all these species are either smaller, or have a very different predation pattern. The common leopard, on the other hand, hunts the same animals as the snow leopard, but is bigger”, Koustubh Sharma says. “There’s a possibility that the common leopard could displace the snow leopard if their habitats were to overlap. On the other hand, tigers and leopards also coexist in the same habitat and on nearly the same prey base in different parts of the world, as do lions and cheetahs. Displacement by common leopards is certainly not one of the major threats to the snow leopard right now – poaching, retaliation killings and the loss or prey and habitat are much more pressing issues – but it will be very interesting to observe the two species going forward.” 

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.

Here's both camera traps next to eachother:

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