Zhu Mengyan, Zaman Muhammad, Wang Meng, Vitekere Kasereka, Ma Jianzhang, Jiang Guangshun
Feline Research Center of Chinese State Forestry and Grassland Administration, College of Wildlife and Protected Area, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China.
Animals (Basel). 2021 Feb 7;11(2):429. doi: 10.3390/ani11020429.
The North China leopard () is a rare leopard subspecies distributed only in China. In this study, we conducted camera-trap surveys of a North China Leopard population in Tie Qiao Shan Nature Reserve, Shanxi Province, China. We estimated population abundance and density distribution, and explored the effects of distribution of different prey populations, habitat, and anthropogenic factors on the spatial distribution of North China leopard density. Our results suggested that the North China leopard density was 4.23 individuals/100 km, and that 17.98 individuals might live within the study area. The population density of the North China leopard increased with the distribution of wild boars, and, on the contrary, decreased with the distribution of roe deer. We found that habitat environmental factors and anthropogenic interference also significantly affected the population density and spatial distribution of the North China leopard. These insights informed us that in order to protect this predator, which is only distributed in China, we should adopt a comprehensive customized adaptive landscape protection strategy.
华北豹是仅分布于中国的一种珍稀豹亚种。在本研究中，我们对中国山西省铁桥山自然保护区的一个华北豹种群进行了相机陷阱调查。我们估计了种群数量和密度分布，并探讨了不同猎物种群分布、栖息地和人为因素对华北豹密度空间分布的影响。我们的结果表明，华北豹密度为4.23只/100平方公里，研究区域内可能生活着17.98只个体。华北豹的种群密度随着野猪的分布而增加，相反，随着狍的分布而减少。我们发现，栖息地环境因素和人为干扰也显著影响华北豹的种群密度和空间分布。这些见解让我们明白，为了保护这种仅分布于中国的食肉动物，我们应采取全面定制的适应性景观保护策略。
