Vol. 60, 2021
(update: 2021.04.12; 07.05)
Spatial Distribution and
Dietary Niche Breadth of Leopard Cats (Prionailurus
bengalensis) Inhabiting
Margalla Hills National Park, Pakistan
Hira
Fatima1, Tariq Mahmood1,* , Lauren
Mae Hennelly2 ,
Muhammad Farooq1, Faraz Akrim3 , and
Muhammad
Sajid Nadeem4
doi:10.6620/ZS.2021.60-34
1Department
of Wildlife Management, PMAS Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi
43600, Pakistan. *Correspondence: E-mail: tariqjanjua75@uaar.edu.pk
(Mahmood). Tel: +923215105689.
E-mail: hira_fatima202@hotmail.com (Fatima); farooq378@gmail.com
(Farooq)
2Mammalian Ecology and Conservation Unit, University
of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA. E-mail: lmhennelly@ucdavis.edu
(Hennelly)
3Zoology Department, University of Kotli, Kotli, Azad
Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan. E-mail: farazakrim@hotmail.com (Akrim)
4Department of Zoology, PMAS Arid Agriculture
University Rawalpindi 43600, Pakistan. E-mail: sajidnm@hotmail.com
(Nadeem)
Received 21 December 2020 / Accepted 1
April 2021
Communicated by Jian-Nan Liu
The leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) is
distributed throughout the Himalayan foothills in Pakistan and occurs
in moist temperate and dry coniferous forests. However, the cat species
is categorized as “Data Deficient” in Pakistan. In the current study we
aimed to investigate the leopard cat distribution and dietary niche in
the Margalla Hills National Park, the lowest part of the Himalayan
foothills in Pakistan. We recorded direct (field observations, camera
trapping) and indirect signs (scats) of the species on 23 trails /
tracks in the study area. The leopard cat was recorded at 13 different
sampling sites in the park, with an altitudinal range between 664–1441
m asl. The diet composition of the species was investigated through
scat analysis, with the species identity of the scats confirmed through
the mitochondrial cytB region. The species’ diet comprised both animal
and plant matter. The animal-based diet (in terms of frequency of
occurrence) contained wild (51.75%) as well as domestic prey (7.69%),
and plant species (31.47%). Wild prey included small mammals (rodents,
two mongoose species, Asian palm squirrel, and Cape hare), birds,
insects and snails. The domestic prey were poultry birds, sheep, goats
and dogs. Consumption of wild prey was higher in summer (n = 31 scat), whereas intake of
domestic prey was higher in winter (n
= 37 scats). The dietary niche breadth was wider 14.84 in
summer than winter 10.67. A chi-square test showed a significant
difference in seasonal dietary intake of the leopard cat. The study
concludes that the leopard cat feeds mainly on wild animal prey and
plant species; however, in winter consumption of domestic prey
increases.
Key words: Spatial
distribution, Seasonal diet, Dietary composition, Prey species, Niche
breadth.
Citation:
Fatima H, Mahmood T, Hennelly LM, Farooq M, Akri F, Nadeem MS. 2021.
Spatial distribution and dietary niche breadth of leopard cats (Prionailurus bengalensis)
inhabiting Margalla Hills National Park, Pakistan. Zool Stud 60:34. doi:10.6620/ZS.2021.60-34.
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