Diet of Mainland Leopard Cat Prionailurus bengalensis within and outside a Protected Area in Arunachal Pradesh, India

Abstract

The Mainland Leopard Cat (MLC) has a wide global distribution but information on its diet is restricted to a few locations. We collected 376 scats from Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary (EWS) and surrounding areas outside the Protected Area (PA) in Arunachal Pradesh, India, from 2014 to 2016. We assigned scats to MLC using felid-specific primers and DNA sequencing. Eighty-nine scats were used for diet estimation (PA: n = 45; outside PA: n = 44). We examined segregated prey items from scats under a microscope. Rodent teeth were identified to the family level. Rodents dominated the diet of MLC within and outside the PA, occurring in 96 % of all scats analysed and belonged to Family Muridae, Cricetidae and Sciuridae, with Muridae being the most common. The major difference in the diet of MLC within and outside the PA was in the consumption of the Sikkim Vole (Cricetidae) which occurred in a higher percentage of scats found within the PA. This difference was largely due to the higher elevations of scat locations within the PA. Our study emphasises the role of the MLC as a major predator of rodents.