IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Shirbhate, M.V. | |
| Predator-prey relationship and parasitic infections in wild animals from Melghat (Satpuda) | |
| 2006 Full Book | |
Predator prey relationship of wild animals in Melghat Tiger Reserve is studied during 2003-2006. Undigested plant epidemal remains, undigested hairs and bones and parasitic stages in faecal remains of carnivores and herbivores were used for the present study. Impressions and microscopical appearance of the hairs of all the possible prey species and epidermal remains of all the possible food plants/ grasses were studied initially which formed the key for further work. 98 scats of tigers, 135 scats of leopards and 33 scats of wild dogs were analyzed for predator-prey relationship studies. The analysis of scats of tiger revealed that sambar is the major prey base in terms of number as well as biomass. The prey preference on the basis of biomass was sambar > wild pig > domestic animals > chital > four horned antelope. But, the orderof predation on the basis of prey occurrence in scats was sambar > Indian hare > four horned >antelope > chital. Undigested remains of 12 prey species are recorded which showed high preponderance of small and large sized prey species. The scat analyses revealed that tigers in Melghat do not predate on gaurs, the larger prey having weight more than the tiger however, there is a very high frequency of predation on Indian hares. Tigers in MTR are found to predate on domestic animals, Four horned antelope and langurs infrequently. The biomass consumed by one tiger per day was found to be 2.2856 Kg. Coprological analysis of 135 leopard scats revealed 11 prey species with a high preponderance of small mammals, sambar and wild pig contributed by leopards while domestic live stock contributed to just 14.27%. The biomass consumed by one leopard per day was found to be 1.3037 Kg/day. The analyses os 33 scats of wild dog revealved that these predators prey on 4 species of herbivores with a high preponderance of hare and sambar. The percent biomass of hare consumed is about 0.74% only and that of sambar is 78.36%. The direct observations revealed that the wild dogs in MTR feed on caracases left by the predators and usually a group of 4 to 7 wild dogs consume the hunted/killed prey. The biomass consumed by one wild dog during the study period was found to be approximately 1 Kg/day. |
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