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From An adaptable but threatened big cat: density, diet and prey selection of the Indochinese leopard (Panthera pardus delacouri) in eastern Cambodia:
"We studied the Indochinese leopard (Panthera pardus delacouri) in eastern Cambodia, in one of the few potentially remaining viable populations in Southeast Asia. The aims were to determine the: (i) current leopard density in Srepok Wildlife Sanctuary (SWS) and (ii) diet, prey selection and predation impact of leopard in SWS. The density, estimated using spatially explicit capture–recapture models, was 1.0 leopard/100 km2, 72% lower than an estimate from 2009 at the same site, and one of the lowest densities ever reported in Asia. Dietary analysis of 73 DNA confirmed scats showed leopard consumed 13 prey species, although ungulates comprised 87% of the biomass consumed (BC). The overall main prey (42% BC) was banteng (Bos javanicus), making this the only known leopard population whose main prey had adult weight greater than 500 kg.
Our results are the first to record leopard consumption of banteng, which was also the main prey of leopard in SWS (42.2% BC), especially for male leopard (61.5% BC). Adult banteng weigh 600–800 kg [53], and consequently the leopard in SWS are the only known leopard population in the world whose main prey had adult weight greater than 500 kg. Prey species with adult weight greater than 500 kg have been found before in leopard diets in Africa and Asia, but they typically comprise trace amounts of less than 2% of the diet [2]. Wild pig (75–200 kg) also was regularly consumed by leopard in SWS, comprising 22.1% BC, indicating leopard consistently predated on ungulates with some the largest adult weights in SWS. Most previous studies showed that wild pig was avoided by leopard, and consequently wild pig typically comprised only minor parts of leopard diet, presumably because wild pig is relatively large and dangerous prey for leopard [2,45,84]. Only leopard in Golestan National Park (GNP), Iran, was shown to consume higher amounts of wild pig than in our study [85]. Ghouddousi et al. [85] concluded high consumption of wild pig by leopard in GNP was not due to a preference for wild pig, but rather due to the high numbers of that prey species on their study site, and the same was likely true in our study (see below)."
"For Cambodia’s last remaining Indochinese leopards (Panthera pardus delacouri), extinction could be just around the corner, a new study has found.
The only breeding population of this leopard subspecies in Cambodia is believed to occur within a large protected area complex in a part of the country called the Eastern Plains Landscape (EPL). But in just five years, leopard density within one protected area in the EPL has fallen from about three leopards per 100 square kilometers (39 square miles) in 2009 to one leopard per 100 square kilometers in 2014, a team of scientists found.
The loss of Cambodia’s Indochinese leopards would deprive the world of a unique member of the leopard family.
When the team analyzed leopard droppings collected from the study area, they found that the male leopard’s main prey was the massive, 500-kilogram-plus (1,100-pound-plus) rare wild cattle species called the banteng (Bos javanicus). This finding was unexpected, the researchers say.
*This image is copyright of its original author
Although previous research has recorded instances of African leopards preying on large-sized prey like giraffe or eland, these animals comprise a very small proportion of the leopard’s diet, the authors write. Instead, leopards, which typically weigh less than 90 kilograms (198 pounds) prefer to prey on smaller animals weighing about 10 to 40 kilograms (22 to 88 pounds).
By contrast, male Indochinese leopards in the eastern Cambodian study site appear to prey predominantly on an animal more than five times its mass, making this the only known leopard population in the world to do so.
The leopards there could be targeting banteng because the large herbivore represents about 70 percent of the available ungulate biomass within the study site, Rostro-García said. Moreover, tigers, whose main prey was the banteng, went locally extinct in the landscape a decade ago, allowing leopards to take over as the apex predator.
“Tigers kill and displace leopards, and previous research showed that when tigers are present, leopards consume smaller prey to avoid encounters with tigers,” Rostro-García said. “Thus, the leopards in eastern Cambodia likely changed their predatory behavior to include the banteng, the largest herbivore, which may have been previously off limits to them when tigers were present.”
But only the male leopards seem to be consuming banteng, the team found. The female leopards preferred muntjac (genus Muntiacus), a small deer. This difference is likely because male leopards can grow up to 50 percent larger than females, the researchers say, suggesting that the banteng might be “too large and dangerous” for female leopards to prey upon, but not for the larger male leopards
@Luipaard @Styx38 Forward from this thread, the sad news is that these banteng-eaters are edging close to extinction in Cambodia, as noted by the article.
Leopards and poachers, courtesy: Panthera / WildCRU / WWF Cambodia / FA:
From An adaptable but threatened big cat: density, diet and prey selection of the Indochinese leopard (Panthera pardus delacouri) in eastern Cambodia:
"We studied the Indochinese leopard (Panthera pardus delacouri) in eastern Cambodia, in one of the few potentially remaining viable populations in Southeast Asia. The aims were to determine the: (i) current leopard density in Srepok Wildlife Sanctuary (SWS) and (ii) diet, prey selection and predation impact of leopard in SWS. The density, estimated using spatially explicit capture–recapture models, was 1.0 leopard/100 km2, 72% lower than an estimate from 2009 at the same site, and one of the lowest densities ever reported in Asia. Dietary analysis of 73 DNA confirmed scats showed leopard consumed 13 prey species, although ungulates comprised 87% of the biomass consumed (BC). The overall main prey (42% BC) was banteng (Bos javanicus), making this the only known leopard population whose main prey had adult weight greater than 500 kg.
Our results are the first to record leopard consumption of banteng, which was also the main prey of leopard in SWS (42.2% BC), especially for male leopard (61.5% BC). Adult banteng weigh 600–800 kg [53], and consequently the leopard in SWS are the only known leopard population in the world whose main prey had adult weight greater than 500 kg. Prey species with adult weight greater than 500 kg have been found before in leopard diets in Africa and Asia, but they typically comprise trace amounts of less than 2% of the diet [2]. Wild pig (75–200 kg) also was regularly consumed by leopard in SWS, comprising 22.1% BC, indicating leopard consistently predated on ungulates with some the largest adult weights in SWS. Most previous studies showed that wild pig was avoided by leopard, and consequently wild pig typically comprised only minor parts of leopard diet, presumably because wild pig is relatively large and dangerous prey for leopard [2,45,84]. Only leopard in Golestan National Park (GNP), Iran, was shown to consume higher amounts of wild pig than in our study [85]. Ghouddousi et al. [85] concluded high consumption of wild pig by leopard in GNP was not due to a preference for wild pig, but rather due to the high numbers of that prey species on their study site, and the same was likely true in our study (see below)."
"For Cambodia’s last remaining Indochinese leopards (Panthera pardus delacouri), extinction could be just around the corner, a new study has found.
The only breeding population of this leopard subspecies in Cambodia is believed to occur within a large protected area complex in a part of the country called the Eastern Plains Landscape (EPL). But in just five years, leopard density within one protected area in the EPL has fallen from about three leopards per 100 square kilometers (39 square miles) in 2009 to one leopard per 100 square kilometers in 2014, a team of scientists found.
The loss of Cambodia’s Indochinese leopards would deprive the world of a unique member of the leopard family.
When the team analyzed leopard droppings collected from the study area, they found that the male leopard’s main prey was the massive, 500-kilogram-plus (1,100-pound-plus) rare wild cattle species called the banteng (Bos javanicus). This finding was unexpected, the researchers say.
*This image is copyright of its original author
Although previous research has recorded instances of African leopards preying on large-sized prey like giraffe or eland, these animals comprise a very small proportion of the leopard’s diet, the authors write. Instead, leopards, which typically weigh less than 90 kilograms (198 pounds) prefer to prey on smaller animals weighing about 10 to 40 kilograms (22 to 88 pounds).
By contrast, male Indochinese leopards in the eastern Cambodian study site appear to prey predominantly on an animal more than five times its mass, making this the only known leopard population in the world to do so.
The leopards there could be targeting banteng because the large herbivore represents about 70 percent of the available ungulate biomass within the study site, Rostro-García said. Moreover, tigers, whose main prey was the banteng, went locally extinct in the landscape a decade ago, allowing leopards to take over as the apex predator.
“Tigers kill and displace leopards, and previous research showed that when tigers are present, leopards consume smaller prey to avoid encounters with tigers,” Rostro-García said. “Thus, the leopards in eastern Cambodia likely changed their predatory behavior to include the banteng, the largest herbivore, which may have been previously off limits to them when tigers were present.”
But only the male leopards seem to be consuming banteng, the team found. The female leopards preferred muntjac (genus Muntiacus), a small deer. This difference is likely because male leopards can grow up to 50 percent larger than females, the researchers say, suggesting that the banteng might be “too large and dangerous” for female leopards to prey upon, but not for the larger male leopards
@Luipaard @Styx38 Forward from this thread, the sad news is that these banteng-eaters are edging close to extinction in Cambodia, as noted by the article.
Leopards and poachers, courtesy: Panthera / WildCRU / WWF Cambodia / FA:
KUALA LUMPUR: The Indochinese leopard, which had been poached to near extinction, is now critically endangered in Southeast Asia.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List update published last month, the assessment of the subspecies found that the leopard population had declined by more than 80 per cent across its historical range in the past two decades.
This was largely due to indiscriminate snaring and poaching.
“The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is deeply concerned by the decline in the Indochinese leopard population.
“It is critical for the governments in the region to take action. We have a collective responsibility to ensure the remaining populations do not go extinct,” said WWF International’s Asia Pacific regional director Dr A. Christy Williams.
The new listing of the Indochinese leopard as critically endangered is based on an assessment conducted by conservation and research organisations Panthera and The Wildlife Conservation Research Unit of Oxford University in July last year.
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Indochinese Leopard (Panthera pardus delacouri)
