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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Diet determination of the Cape Mountain leopards using global positioning system location clusters and scat analysis
Journal of Zoology, Volume 283, No. 2, Year 2011
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Description
Studying leopards Panthera pardus in mountainous regions is challenging and there is little ecological information on their behaviour in these habitats. We used data from global positioning system (GPS) radio-collared leopards in conjunction with leopard scat analysis to identify key aspects of leopard feeding habits in the Cederberg Mountains of South Africa. We located 53 leopard kill/feeding sites from clustered GPS locations of ≥4 h and analysed 93 leopard scats. Both methods showed that klipspringers Oreotragus oreotragus and rock hyraxes Procavia capensis were the most common prey. GPS location clusters showed that the time leopards spent at a given location was positively related both to the probability of detecting prey remains and to prey size. Leopards made significantly more large kills in winter than summer (P=0.003); there was no significant difference between male and female leopards in the average number of large kills or the average time spent at large kill sites. We show that, when studying large carnivores in inaccessible areas, it is important to use a combination of techniques to understand their feeding ecology and that GPS locations can be used to provide an accurate measure of diet even when small prey are being taken. © 2010 The Authors. Journal of Zoology © 2010 The Zoological Society of London.
Authors & Co-Authors
Martins, Quinton E.
South Africa, Cape Town
The Cape Leopard Trust
United Kingdom, Bristol
University of Bristol
Horsnell, William Gordon Charles
South Africa, Cape Town
Faculty of Health Sciences
Titus, W.
South Africa, Cape Town
The Cape Leopard Trust
Rautenbach, T.
South Africa, Gqeberha
Nelson Mandela University
Harris, Stephen J.
United Kingdom, Bristol
University of Bristol
Statistics
Citations: 74
Authors: 5
Affiliations: 4
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1111/j.1469-7998.2010.00757.x
ISSN:
09528369
e-ISSN:
14697998
Study Locations
South Africa
Participants Gender
Male
Female