Seasonal Differences In Prey Abundance And Food Composition Of The North China Leopard(Panthera Pardus Fontanierii)in Tieqiaoshan Nature Reserve,Shanxi

The North China leopard(Panthera pardus fontanierii)is a unique leopard subspecies in China,mainly distributed in North China.and is an important part of the North China forest ecosystem.The resource status of the prey is an important basis for population recovery of the North China leopard population.Understanding the food composition and the availability of prey is very important for the protection of the North China leopard and its habitat system.In this study,from October 2018 to November 2019,the infrared automatic camera technology was used to monitor the population of North China leo pard and collect prey datasets to analyze the relative abundance of the main prey.Estimate the absolute density of prey based on the random encounter model REM,and compare the differences between seasons.And from January 2018 to December 2019,81 feces samples of North China leopard were collected in the Tieqiaoshan Provincial Nature Reserve,Shanxi,and the composition of the North China leopard prey was obtained through the fecal analysis method.The food composition and prey preference between cold and warm seasons were compared.The following findings were obtained:1.The relative abundance of mammals in the annual order is:Cattle(13.71)>rodents(11.46)>roe deer(5.55)>red fox(3.85)>wild boar(2.21)>eurasian badger(1.41)>dog(1.02)>leopard cat(0.54)>hog badger(0.42);the relative abundance of mammals during the warm season is:Cattle(24.29)>rodents(13.65)>roe deer(6.74)>red fox(3.09)>wild boar(2.87)>eurasian badger(2.36)>dog(1.26)>hog badger(0.55)>leopard cat(0.46);the relative abundance in the cold season is:rodents(8.25)>red fox(4.44)>roe deer(4.23)>cattle(3.02)>wild boar(1.26)>dog(0.73)>leopard cat(0.53)>eurasian badger(0.50)>hog badger(0.27).Except for hog badger(p=0.031),the distribution of each prey in the study area is relatively uniform,and there is no significant difference in the distribution between the functional areas.2.The availability of wild mammals is measured by the population density of the species.Estimated the population density of wild mammals(ie roe deer,wild boar,red fox,eurasian badger,rodents)with relative abundance higher than 1.00.and obtained the absolute density(per km2)of each species in the annual:rodents(20.63)>roe deer(0.86)>red fox(0.34)>wild boar(0.28)>eurasian badger(0.12);the density in the warm season is:rodents(24.57)>roe deer(1.04)>wild boar(0.37)>red fox(0.27)>eurasian badger(0.21);during the cold season:rodents(14.85)>roe deer(0.66)>red fox(0.39)>wild boar(0.1 6)>eurasian badger(0.04).3.Roe deer and wild boar have the highest availability in September,red fox has the highest availability in November,dog badgers have the highest availability in May,and rodents have the highest availability in June.The roe deer is the most prey for North China leopards in Tieqiaoshan Nature Reserve,Shanxi.4.The food of North China leopard is composed of 10 species(classes)of prey,the food is composed of 7 species(classes)in warm season,and the food is composed of 10 species(classes)in cold season,During the cold season,The food propotion of leopard increased for medium-sized prey and livestock from cold to warm season.North China leopard prey most frequently on roe deer,and wild boars have the highest biological contribution.5.The North China leopard prefer to prey on three species(classes),in order:wild boar(+0.73),roe deer(+0.63)and rodents(+0.04);in the warm season,the North China leopard prefer to prey on two species(classes),wild boar(+0.85)and roe deer(+0.76);in the cold season,there are three species(classes)of prey that like to prey:wild boar(+0.54),roe deer(+0.39)and rodents(+0.12).In summary,the food of north China leopard is mainly ungulates,but the population density of ungulates in the wild is relatively low,especially wild boar.Free-range breeding leads to inter-species resource competition between domestic animals and wild ungulates.The expansion of ungulate populations is crucial to the conservation of the north China leopard.How to eliminate free-range livestock and how to prevent wild boars from harming crops will be the key issues for the growth of ungulate populations.