IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Andheria, A.P.; Karanth, K.U.; Kumar, S. | |
| Diet and Prey Profiles of Three Sympatric Large Carnivores in Bandipur Tiger Reserve, India | |
| 2007 Conference Proceeding | |
Biodiversity conservation entails that the tiger, one of the key umbrella species, is protected. Scientific studies on food consumed by the tiger and other carnivores will lead to better understanding and will also help design efficient conservation strategies. To this end, a field study of diets of three sympatric large carnivores, the tiger _Panthera tigris_, the leopard _Panthera pardus_ and the dhole _Cuon alpinus_ was conducted by us in Bandipur Tiger Reserve, India. We collected and analysed 381 tiger, 111 leopard and 181 dhole scats. Using regression equations, frequency of occurrence of prey items in these scats was converted to relative biomass and number of prey consumed. Our results showed that almost 88-97% of biomass consumed by these three predators is provided by ungulate species. We observed some specialized predation and also an overlap of the dietary niche among them. Importantly, 73% of biomass consumed by tigers, was provided by large ungulates, gaur and sambar, whereas medium sized chital and wild pig formed 65% and 83% of the biomass intake of leopards and dholes respectively. Our study supports the prediction that the abundance of ungulate species in different size classes is responsible for facilitating sympatry amongst the three predators. |
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