RFO of prey species items in scats from these zones identified were used in null model simulations of Pianka’s dietary niche breadth, with relaxed and zero states retained. Instead, we used the double-observer survey method, as this technique has been evaluated as statistically robust and sufficiently precise for estimates of mountain ungulates [38, 39]. Energetic constraints of large carnivores make them prone to conflict as they need large prey (Carbone et al., 1999). For the occurrence of main food categories in the snow leopard scats, we tested for the relative influence of the sex of the predator, the season of scat collection, the latitude and longitude of the scat locations, the densities of wild ungulates and livestock, and wild prey species diversity (Table 5, data in S1 Appendix). Wolves are top predators and require large landscapes. A detailed list of the literature used is provided in Tables 1 & … Click through the PLOS taxonomy to find articles in your field.

(2012), for cheetah and simultaneously for wolves through an exponential equation that is more realistic in ecological terms.

The northernmost study that reported on wolf diet was from Dalaihu Nature Reserve, Mongolia, while the southernmost was from Wangchuck Centennial National Park, Bhutan. The best model of livestock occurrence in snow leopard scats included the two predictor variables “sex” and “latitude” (M5, Table 5). Scats were genotyped to identify species and sex following the methods described by Karmacharya et al. S1, Annex 6‐7).

Yes Livestock depredation and the associated conflicts with humans is a main challenge for the conservation of both snow leopards and wolves [15, 55]. Yes We used Pianka’s index [42] to assess diet overlap (DO) between the two predators; DO = where Pij is the proportion of prey category i in the diet of predator j; Pik is the proportion of prey category i in the diet of predator k. The values range between 0 (no overlap) and 1 (complete overlap).

Among livestock species, snow leopards significantly preferred horses and goats, avoided yaks, and used sheep as available.

Salvador Lyngdoh and Bilal Habib, Department of Animal Ecology & Conservation Biology, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun 248001, Uttarakhand, India. Diet. We divided the data on wolf diet into seven zones based on the wild prey uniqueness and physiography (Schaller, Junrang & Mingjiang, 1988; Lyngdoh et al., 2014).

However, in the Himalayas, wolves are very rare, and a recent genetic study confirmed that they belong to the ancient Himalayan wolf lineage (Canis lupus chanco) [3]. The current review aims to bridge the information gap on diet and feeding ecology of Himalayan wolves. Data Availability: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files. The weight of prey used for biomass calculation was 3/4th of the female weight of prey (Hayward et al., 2006; Lyngdoh et al., 2014). Ordination (NMDS) revealed 97.8% and 11.4% of the information on the first axis and second axis, respectively, with 0.029 stress (Fig. These regions are mostly low in productivity and highly overstocked. Although diet did not vary significantly across the seven zones, wolves chose their prey differentially between prey types (ANOVA 2 factor, d.f. Overall, the scats of snow leopards consisted of 73% prey of wild origin and 27% of domestic animals. that the proportion of livestock in diets abruptly increased when wild prey biomass decreased below a threshold value. Learn about our remote access options, Department of Animal Ecology & Conservation Biology, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. However, the preferred habitat of wolves in mountain ranges, i.e. Keywords, Tibetan wolf diet, Himalayan wolf diet, Mongolian wolf diet, Canis lupus chanco, Canis lupus laniger and wolves from Central Asia were used. Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences and the Zoological Society of London (Nepal Program Office) funded the laboratory cost for the genetic part. Climate in the region is highly variable with annual temperatures ranging from a minimum of -40°C in winter to a maximum of approximately 30°C in summer.