An adaptable but threatened big cat: density, diet and prey selection of the Indochinese leopard (Panthera pardus delacouri) in eastern Cambodia

We studied the Indochinese leopard (Panthera pardus delacouri) in eastern Cambodia, in one of the few potentially remaining viable populations in Southeast Asia. The aims were to determine the: (i) current leopard density in Srepok Wildlife Sanctuary (SWS) and (ii) diet, prey selection and predation impact of leopard in SWS. The density, estimated using spatially explicit capture–recapture models, was 1.0 leopard/100 km2, 72% lower than an estimate from 2009 at the same site, and one of the lowest densities ever reported in Asia. Dietary analysis of 73 DNA confirmed scats showed leopard consumed 13 prey species, although ungulates comprised 87% of the biomass consumed (BC). The overall main prey (42% BC) was banteng (Bos javanicus), making this the only known leopard population whose main prey had adult weight greater than 500 kg. Consumption of wild pig (Sus scrofa) was also one of the highest ever reported (22% BC), indicating leopard consistently predated on ungulates with some of th...

本研究以柬埔寨东部的印支豹（Panthera pardus delacouri）为研究对象，该种群是东南亚少数仍具备生存可行性的豹种群之一。本研究的目标为：（i）明确森波克野生动物保护区（Srepok Wildlife Sanctuary, SWS）内当前的豹种群密度；（ii）探究该保护区内豹的食性、猎物选择及捕食影响。本研究采用空间显式捕获再捕获模型（spatially explicit capture–recapture models）估算得到，该保护区内豹种群密度为1.0只/100平方千米，较2009年同区域的估算结果下降72%，是亚洲有记录以来最低的豹种群密度之一。通过对73份经DNA验证的豹粪便样本开展食性分析，结果显示豹共捕食13种猎物，其中有蹄类动物占总消费生物量（Biomass Consumed, BC）的87%。其最主要的猎物为爪哇野牛（Bos javanicus），占总消费生物量的42%，这也是目前已知唯一一种以成年体重超过500千克的动物为核心猎物的豹种群。野猪（Sus scrofa）的捕食占比（22% BC）同样位居有记录以来的较高水平，表明该区域的豹会持续捕食部分体型较大的有蹄类动物（原文末尾内容存在截断）。