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The reproductive tactics and activity patterns of solitary carnivores: the Iriomote cat

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Abstract

Felids are generally considered to be crepuscular and nocturnal in their activity, but few studies have attempted to analyze the variability of their activity patterns. We studied the daily activity of the Iriomote cat Prionailurus iriomotensis by radio-tracking on Iriomote Island, Japan. The general activity patterns of Iriomote cats showed slightly prevailing activity during dark periods of the day with particular peaks at dawn and dusk or during the early hours of the night. However, these patterns were clearly dependent on the sex and reproductive status of the cat. Peaks of cats’ activity coincided with those of their main prey. On average, the cats were active for thirteen hours per day. During the mating season, the rhythm of activity in males followed that of breeding females, but not that of non-breeding ones. Males exhibited 11% higher total daily activity and longer active bouts during the mating period than in the remainder of the year. Breeding females had additional mid-day activity peak during the nursing period, but their total time of activity per day was 16% lower than in the period of kittens’ independence. Their active bouts were shorter and more frequent during nursing than at other times. These results suggest that lactating females perform frequent movements to and from the den site to care for kittens. During the non-nursing period, females increased their activity, possibly in response to lowered prey abundance and the need of intensive foraging to recover after lactation. Seasonal and sexual variation of activity patterns in the Iriomote cats confirmed the existence of different reproductive strategies of males and females of these solitary carnivores.

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Acknowledgments

The field work was carried out using the facility of the Iriomote Station, Tropical Biosphere Research Centre of the University of the Ryukyus, through the courtesy of Professor Tokushiro Takaso. We are greatly indebted to Professor Hidetoshi Ota for his generous support during our study. We thank Professor Masao Akuzawa and his assistants for tranquilizing cats and care of animals when sedated. We are grateful to Dr Lon I. Grassman and Dr Matt W. Hayward for improving the English of the first draft and their valuable comments. We greatly appreciate comments by two anonymous reviewers. This study was partly supported by Grants-in Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan (No. 11480152) and by the twenty-first century COE program of the University of the Ryukyus.

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Correspondence to Krzysztof Schmidt.

Appendix

Appendix

Adult Iriomote cats radio-tracked for a study of activity patterns from 1993 to 2004, Iriomote Island, Japan

Cat’s ID

Sex

Time of monitoring

Number of locations

Number of 24-h radio-tracking sessions

RR*

F

6 November 1993–21 October 1996

83

BB

F

6 November 1993–7 November 1995

61

SN

M

9 March 1995–17 October 1996

10

W-60

F

5 March 1999–6 November 1999

125

2

E-18*

F

4 June 1999–22 October 2000

348

6

E-30

M

28 August 1999–9 November 2004

555

5

E-36

F

18 October 1999–22 October 1999

48

E-33

M

31 October 1999–22 December 2001

83

Omo

M

20 June 2000–29 July 2000

94

1

Oki

M

29 June 2000–2 December 2000

103

1

Yonku

M

15 June 2000–8 March 2001

1,118

33

Nene*

F

26 June 2000–15 February 2001

504

9

W-89

M

21 November 2001–5 March 2002

39

W-86

M

22 November 2001–31 January 2002

57

W-81

M

24 November 2001–6 March 2002

35

  1. An asterisk indicates female reproducing during at least one year of the study period

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Schmidt, K., Nakanishi, N., Izawa, M. et al. The reproductive tactics and activity patterns of solitary carnivores: the Iriomote cat. J Ethol 27, 165–174 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-008-0101-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-008-0101-4

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