IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Bothma, J.du P.; le Riche, E.A.N. | |
| The influence of increasing hunger on the hunting behaviour of Southern Kalahari leopards | |
| 1990 Journal of Arid Environments (18): 79-84 | |
The influence of hunger on the hunting behaviour of the leopard in the southern Kalahari Desert is examined, based on ground tracking. It is suggested that increasing hunger affects the various hunting actions of the leopards involved. The leopards are unable to increase the rate of hunting per km travelled, as hunger increases, because of a limited prey base which is already utilized fully. However, by moving increasingly longer distances, they do increase the actual number of hunting actions per 24-h period. The conservation implication is that, based on the energy balance, some arid areas with excessively low prey abundance may be unsuitable for permanent occupation by free-ranging leopards. |
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