IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Selvan, K.M.; Veeraswami, G.G.; Lyngdoh, S.; Habib, B.; Hussain, S.A. | |
| Prey selection and food habits of three sympatric large carnivores in a tropical lowland forest of the Eastern Himalayan Biodiversity Hotspot | |
| 2013 Mammalian Biology (78): 296-303 | |
Prey selection and the feeding habits of tiger _Panthera tigris,_ leopard _Panthera pardus _and Asiatic wild dog _Cuon alpinus_ were investigated from June 2009 to December 2011 in Pakke Tiger Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh. A total of 422 scats were analyzed of which, 109 scats were of tigers, 150 were of leopard and 163 scats were of dholes. Multinomial Likelihood ratio test was used to estimate the prey selectivity of predators and Ivlev index, Pianka index were used to estimate prey preference and overlap respectively. Biomass consumption for three sympatric predators varied from 254.3 kg for dholes to 599.1 kg for tigers. Sambar, barking deer, wild pig were preyed more than their availability by all the predators. Ivlev index shows barking deer and sambar were preferred more than available prey for tiger where as leopard preferred sambar more than available and avoided barking deer. Dhole preferred more than available wild pig and barking deer. There was a high overlap between tiger-leopard (85.3%) and tiger-dhole (77.5%). To the best of our understanding, this study provides the first reliable information on prey selection and food habits of sympatric large carnivores in a protected area of Eastern Himalayan tropical rainforest. |
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