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Global Positioning System-located kills and faecal samples: A comparison of leopard dietary estimates

Abstract:

Foraging data for terrestrial carnivorans are most often obtained by the analysis of faecal samples - an established technique. However, advances in satellite tracking technology are allowing researchers to locate kill sites by investigating global positioning system (GPS) clusters in both space and time. Here we compare leopard Panthera pardus dietary estimates (composition and biomass) of small, medium and large prey using three techniques: faecal analysis, GPS cluster analysis and GPS cluster analysis supplemented with faecal samples located at cluster sites. We demonstrate that estimates of leopard prey composition and biomass intake from each technique produce comparatively similar results. Nevertheless, the detection of feeding events did increase by 20-23% when supplementing GPS-located kills with faecal samples. The investigation of GPS clusters offers an equivalent method of leopard dietary estimation to that of faecal analysis. When carried out intensively, the GPS cluster method is capable of detecting leopard predation on prey species within small, medium and large weight categories. Although requiring additional resources, supplementing GPS-located kills with GPS-located faecal samples results in the most detailed dietary estimates by detecting kills missed during GPS cluster investigations. © 2013 The Zoological Society of London.