In Nepal's mid-hill region, leopards are adjusting their diets as their natural prey becomes increasingly scarce.
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| Panthera pardus fusca (Credit: Piyush via Flickr) |
The leopard, known as Panthera
pardus fusca in science, is a significant player in forests and grasslands
across India. In Nepal, these magnificent cats roam widely, especially favoring
mountainous areas where there’s a rich variety of prey and plenty of places to
hide. While they prefer tropical forests, they’re also quite adaptable and can
make a home in areas that humans have changed, like farmland or forests near
villages. But with more people moving into the mountains and building towns, the
leopards’ habitats are shrinking. This forces
them to venture into areas populated by humans in search of food, as noted by
the authors of a recent study
that examined leopard scats in Nepal's mid-hill region from August 2020 to
March 2021.
The study titled "Prey
selection by leopards (Panthera pardus fusca) in the mid-hill region of
Nepal," published in Ecology and Environment in early February 2024,
focused on understanding the diet of leopards in the mid-hill region of Nepal.
Led by Kedar Baral and his team, the study was conducted in the Bhanu
municipality of the Tanahun district.
To gather data, the researchers
collected leopard droppings, also known as scats, from various habitats such as
forests, grasslands, riverbeds, and roads. They aimed to gather a sufficient
number of samples for their analysis. In total, they gathered 96 leopard scats,
distinguishing them from smaller scats of jungle cats and hyenas based on their
larger size. Additionally, identifying features like pugmarks and scratch marks
further confirmed that the scats belonged to leopards. The researchers were
able to rule out the possibility of the scats belonging to tigers since no
tigers are known to inhabit the area.
The results of the study
revealed that leopards in the mid-hill region of Nepal preyed on a variety of
animals, with a total of 15 different species identified from the collected
samples. Among these, goats were the most commonly targeted prey, accounting
for the largest portion of the animals killed by leopards. Following goats were
jungle cats, domestic dogs, and large Indian civets in terms of relative
biomass.
Livestock, including goats and
other domestic animals, made up 27% of the total relative biomass of prey
killed by leopards, with goats being the predominant target. On the other hand,
wild prey accounted for 50% of the relative biomass, with ungulates such as
barking deer and wild boar making up 10% of the total relative biomass.
The study found that among the
wild prey species, jungle cats and large Indian civets were the most frequently
hunted by leopards, constituting 12% and 10% of the relative biomass of prey
killed, respectively. This suggests that leopards have a preference for these
species over other carnivores in the area.
In contrast, wild ungulates were
the least targeted prey, comprising only around 3% of the total relative
biomass of prey killed by leopards. The Indian hare, jungle cat, and large
Indian civet were among the most frequently targeted individual species, with
16.2%, 10.2%, and 9.2% of the relative number of individuals killed,
respectively.
The researchers also utilized
camera traps to assess the relative abundance of various animal species in the
study area. They found that wild ungulates such as barking deer and wild boar
were scarce, whereas rhesus monkeys were the most abundant species. Following
the monkeys were large Indian civets, jungle cats, and Indian hares.
Based on these findings, the
researchers propose that leopards may hunt more of their less-preferred prey
species like jungle cats and large Indian civets due to the limited
availability of preferred prey such as wild boar and barking deer in the study
area. This scarcity of ungulates likely forces leopards to target smaller and
more abundant wild mammals found in the region.
The researchers caution that the
scarcity of natural prey in leopard habitats, as observed in areas like the
study site, may lead leopards to seek alternative food sources, including
domestic livestock and potentially humans. The high consumption of livestock
and small mammals by leopards indicates a shortage of medium-sized wild prey,
particularly preferred ungulate species like barking deer and wild boar.
In order to conserve leopard
populations, the researchers stress the need to implement management strategies
such as habitat restoration techniques aimed at conserving wild ungulates.
Additionally, they advocate for raising awareness among local communities and
establishing wildlife relief or compensation programs to mitigate conflicts between
humans and leopards, thus promoting coexistence in these areas. These measures
are crucial for safeguarding both leopard populations and human livelihoods in
regions where they overlap.