Diet of Leopards Panthera pardus fusca inhabiting protected areas and human-dominated landscapes in Goa, India

The diet of leopards occupying human-dominated and protected areas (PAs) in Goa, India was analyzed through scat analysis. A total of 117 scats, 55 from wildlife sanctuaries/ national parks and 62 from human-dominated areas were collected and analyzed. Analysis of 55 scats from protected forest revealed the presence of only wild prey in the leopard diet, whereas 61% of scats collected from human-dominated areas consisted of only wild prey, 29% of domesticated animals, and 10% a mixture of both wild prey & domesticated animals. Of the prey biomass consumed in human-dominated areas, domestic animals constituted only 33% of the leopard diet. Among all leopard scats, 71% contained only one prey species, 28% contained two species, and 1% contained three.

Abundance, prey, and activity period of dholes (Cuon alpinus) in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand

Khoewsree N, Charaspet K, Sukmasuang R, Songsasen N, Pla-ard M, Thongbantum J, Kongchaloem W, Srinopawan K. 2020. Abundance, prey, and activity period of dholes (Cuon alpinus) in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand. Biodiversitas 21: 345-354. The abundance and occupancy of dholes in Khao Yai National Park are the highest among found carnivorous mammals. This demonstrates the importance of the home range of dholes. From the scat analysis, eight species of mammals that are prey can be identified. The dholes mainly consume ungulates when considering the most percentage of relative biomass consumed were ungulate species. For the number of prey animals consumed by dholes per year, a dhole consumes 25.94 prey animals per year which consist of 6.51 masked palm civets, 6.44 Asian palm civets, 4.55 muntjac, 3.97 lesser mouse-deer, 2.22 large Indian civets, 1.03 wild boars, 0.66 sambar, and 0.56 porcupines. From the daily activity pattern captured by the camera trap, dholes have an average activity period of 14:49 hours. Therefore, they are mostly diurnal. The results of the study confirm that Khao Yai National Park is an important habitat of dholes. To maintain the population of dholes in the area, the most important factor is maintaining the ungulate population in the area, especially muntjac, sambar, lesser mouse-deer, and wild boar by increasing and improving the quality of grassland, austerity of maintenance, garbage and dirt disposal from tourism activities in the area for ecological health, and public relations for dholes’ conservation in the long-term.

Baseline diet of an urban carnivore on an expanding range front

For the past 200 years, coyotes have steadily expanded their range eastward from the Midwestern USA. They have successfully colonized the contiguous landscape east of the Mississippi River and have been documented on Long Island, New York since 2009 with successful breeding confirmed in 2016. Occupying a diverse array of habitat types along the way, they are now commonplace in many urban and suburban landscapes as well. Using 149 scats and 13 stomachs collected from 2009 to 2017 and analyzed by traditional scat analysis methods, we described the diet of coyotes found in the New York City. The most common prey items, as a percentage of scats, were rodents (35.2%), birds (27.7%), followed by anthropogenic items (26.4%). These results were similar when compared to that of seven other urban centers in North America.

Genetic analysis of scat samples to inform conservation of the Tasmanian devil

Recent advances in molecular genetics have enabled a great deal of information about species to be obtained from analysis of non-invasively collected samples such as scat. Scat provides genetic information via residual host DNA on the outside of the scat, via characterising the genetic makeup of intestinal microbes that are present in the scat, or by examining the DNA remnants of prey items that have passed through the animal’s digestive tract. In this review, we provide a case study to demonstrate how these approaches are being used to better understand the threatened Tasmanian devil in the landscape, and to support the species’ conservation. Scat analysis enables us to quantify the genetic diversity of remote populations, where trapping is logistically challenging. We are beginning to learn how conservation management impacts the microbiome of threatened species, and investigate how various management strategies may be impacting the diverse array of bacteria and viruses that devils, like all animal species, are host to. We are using scat samples to better understand the interaction between devils and other animals in their environment by learning more about what they eat. We explore the strengths and challenges of these approaches by comparing our work to that conducted in other species. Finally, we provide specific examples of how our results are being integrated into conservation strategy for the devil.

Wolf diet and livestock selection in central Greece

Understanding the feeding habits of wolves is essential for designing and implementing fundamental management processes across the range of the species. This is even more important within human-dominated areas, such as southern Europe, and more especially Greece. In this context, we analyzed 123 scat samples, collected between 2010 and 2012, from a mixed agricultural, forested and human-dominated area, centered on the municipality of Domokos in central continental Greece. We used standard laboratory procedures for scat analysis and calculated percentages of frequency of occurrence (FO%), average volume (AV%) and biomass index (BM%) to assess diet composition, and estimated prey selectivity. Domestic prey composed the bulk of wolf diet (FO%=73.5, AV%=84.8, BM%=97.2), wild ungulates were almost absent (FO%=0.5, AV%=0.8, BM%=1.2), whereas grass consumption was high in our area (FO%=19.5, AV%=11.0). The high dependence on livestock corroborates previous studies from Greece and other countries in southern Europe. Goat (FO%=46.0, AV%=61.2, BM%=64.9) was the main prey and was strongly selected, with sheep (FO%=11.5, AV%=9.0, BM%=11.2), pig carrion and cattle ranking behind (FO%=11.5, AV%=10.1, BM%=8.7 and FO%=4.5, AV%=4.5, BM%=12.4, respectively). No differences across seasons were detected, except from pig carrion, which increased during winter. The preference for goats is probably associated with its grazing behavior. High livestock consumption generally results in increased human-wolf conflict. Thus, substantial improvement of husbandry practices and restoration of wild ungulate populations are recommended to facilitate wolf-human coexistence in Greece.

Scat analysis as a preliminary assessment of moose (Alces alces andersoni) calf consumption by bears (Ursus spp.) in north–central British Columbia

Moose (Alces alces andersoni) population numbers have decreased by 50–70% in some parts of northern British Columbia (BC), Canada. Predation of moose calves by bears may be affecting moose populations in this area, but has gone undocumented. A total of 1,381 bear scats were collected during the spring and summer of 2014 and 2015. Hairs extracted from the scats were identified to species through hair scale imprints made in thermoplastic film, with the specific purpose of identifying the frequency of occurrence of moose calf hairs in scats. Only 27 scats (~2 %) contained moose calf hair. We discuss possible explanations for our findings.

Winter food habits of the Common Palm Civet Paradoxurus hermaphroditus (Mammalia: Carnivora: Viverridae) in Patna Bird Sanctuary, India

Food habits of the Common Palm Civet Paradoxurus hermaphroditus were investigated using scat analysis method, a technique widely used to study small and medium sized mammals. We analyzed 112 scats of Common Palm Civet between November 2012 and March 2013 from the Patna Bird Sanctuary and found a total of nine food items. Out of 112 scats, 32.09% scats contained three food items, 29.62% scats had two items, 24.69% scats contained four prey items, and 3.7% scats had seven prey items. The results show that the Common Palm Civet is more frugivorous (ca. 39.28%) than insectivores (ca. 29.46%). Percent frequency of occurrence showed that insects contributed maximum in the diet of Civet (29.46±2.29) followed by fruits of Ficus religiosa (19.64±1.13), Prosopis juliflora (11.60±0.18), and Date Palm (Phoenix sylvestrix) (8.03±0.23), while birds contributed 9.82±0.02 and rodents 6.25±0.44. Rufous-tailed Hare (Lepus nigricollis ruficaudatus) (1.78±0.96) contributed the minimum in the Common Palm Civet diet. PBS is an Important Bird Area site and it harbours thousands of migratory birds during winter. But the results show that birds are a less preferred diet item of the Common Palm Civet.

Feeding habits of the jaguar Panthera onca (Carnivora: Felidae) in Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica

Although dietary studies are considered an important conservation tool, few studies have assessed jaguar (Panthera onca) diet in Costa Rica. Therefore, this study describes the diet composition of the jaguar in Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica, carried out by analyzing and comparing carcass (n= 1 374), scat (n= 75) and camera trap (n= 3) data, collected between 2012 and 2016. Our results indicated that jaguar diet in this area consisted of at least 20 prey species. The green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) was the most frequent item based on carcass data, while the white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari) was the major prey species according to the scat analysis. Our results highlight the importance of combining different methods to describe the jaguar feeding habits. Further research should focus on calculating jaguar and terrestrial prey species abundance in the study area, information that would help to complement our findings.