Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2015
Snow leopard predation in a livestock dominated landscape in Mongolia
Johansson, Örjan; McCarthy, Tom; Samelius, Gustaf; Andren, Henrik; Tumursukh, Lkhagvasumberel; Mishra, CharuduttAbstract
Livestock predation is an important cause of endangerment of the snow leopard (Panthera uncia) across its range. Yet, detailed information on individual and spatio-temporal variation in predation patterns of snow leopards and their kill rates of livestock and wild ungulates are lacking.We collared 19 snow leopards in the Tost Mountains, Mongolia, and searched clusters of GPS positions to identify prey remains and estimate kill rate and prey choice.Snow leopards killed, on average, one ungulate every 8 days, which included more wild prey (73%) than livestock (27%), despite livestock abundance being at least one order of magnitude higher. Predation on herded livestock occurred mainly on stragglers and in rugged areas where animals are out of sight of herders. The two wild ungulates, ibex (Capra ibex) and argali (Ovis ammon), were killed in proportion to their relative abundance. Predation patterns changed with spatial (wild ungulates) and seasonal (livestock) changes in prey abundance. Adult male snow leopards killed larger prey and 2-6 times more livestock compared to females and young males. Kill rates were considerably higher than previous scat-based estimates, and kill rates of females were higher than kill rates of males. We suggest that (i) snow leopards prey largely on wild ungulates and kill livestock opportunistically, (ii) retaliatory killing by livestock herders is likely to cause greater mortality of adult male snow leopards compared to females and young males, and (iii) total off-take of prey by a snow leopard population is likely to be much higher than previous estimates suggest. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Keywords
Gobi desert; GPS collar; Kill rate; Panthera uncia; Prey choice; Wildlife conflictPublished in
Biological Conservation2015, volume: 184, pages: 251-258
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCI LTD
Authors' information
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Ecology
Nordens ark
Panthera
Snow Leopard Trust
McCarthy, Tom
Panthera
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Ecology
Snow Leopard Trust
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Ecology
Tumursukh, Lkhagvasumberel
Mishra, Charudutt
UKÄ Subject classification
Ecology
Zoology
Publication Identifiers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2015.02.003
URI (permanent link to this page)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/68954