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Seasonal diet composition of Leopard (Panthera pardus) in and around Kazinag National Park, Kashmir, India

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Abstract

The common leopard (Panthera pardus) is known to have a wide dietary spectrum and plays a significant role in maintaining the balance within an ecological community. The present study on dietary composition was conducted in Kazinag National Park (KNP) of Kashmir Himalayas for two seasons (summer and winter) of the two consecutive years (2019 and 2020) to augment the existing literature and investigate the role of leopard as an apex predator in KNP which is home to several threatened wild ungulates. We used the scat analysis method for which a total of 134 scats (summer, n = 73; winter, n = 61) were collected within 21 sampling trails in the park. In summer livestock was more frequent in the diet (47.38%) than wild ungulates (16.47%). However, in the winter diet, a higher proportion of wild ungulates (58.89%) was represented than domestic livestock (9.01%). Meso-mammals including monkey, red fox and domestic dog formed more or less similar proportions in the summer and winter diet of the leopard. Himalayan goral had a higher frequency of occurrence (63.43) in winter scats, whereas domestic goat had a higher frequency of occurrence (64.17) in summer scats. Kruskal-Wallis test revealed significant differences in proportions of livestock (p < 0.05) and wild ungulates (p < 0.05) between summer and winter diet, however, insignificant difference was recorded for meso mammals. This livestock depredation would always keep leopard at a higher risk of being killed in conflict with humans. Therefore, special management efforts are needed to initiate conservation action for management of the leopard population in the national park.

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Acknowledgements

We are highly thankful to the Head of the Zoology Department, University of Kashmir for providing laboratory facilities. We are also thankful to the Department of Wildlife Protection, Jammu and Kashmir for permitting us to carry out this work in KNP.

Funding

Our sincere thanks are due to SERB-DST, Govt. of India for financing the work under the research project No. CRG/2019/002369 and University of Kashmir under component 10 of RUSA 2.0.

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  1. Department of Zoology, University of Kashmir, 190006, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India

    Jahangir Ahmad Dar & Bilal A. Bhat

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Correspondence to Jahangir Ahmad Dar.

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The diet of the leopard (Panthera pardus) was analyzed from scats, which is a non-invasive approach without disturbing or harming any animal. Due permission was granted from the Department of Wildlife, Jammu and Kashmir to conduct the research.

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Dar, J.A., Bhat, B.A. Seasonal diet composition of Leopard (Panthera pardus) in and around Kazinag National Park, Kashmir, India. Biologia 77, 3511–3518 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11756-022-01242-0

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