Koju Narayan Prasad, Gosai Kamal Raj, Bashyal Bijay, Byanju Reena, Shrestha Arati, Buzzard Paul, Beisch Willian Bill, Khanal Laxman
Center for Post Graduate Studies, Nepal Engineering College, Pokhara University, Lekhnath 44800, Nepal.
Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Guthrie Hall (GTH), Seattle, WA 98105, USA.
Animals (Basel). 2023 Oct 12;13(20):3182. doi: 10.3390/ani13203182.
Conservation strategies for apex predators, like the snow leopard (), depend on a robust understanding of their dietary preferences, prey abundance, and adaptability to changing ecological conditions. To address these critical conservation concerns, this study presents a comprehensive evidence on prey availability and preferences for snow leopards in the Lapchi Valley in the Nepal Himalayas from November 2021 to March 2023. Field data were collected through the installation of twenty-six camera traps at 16 strategically chosen locations, resulting in the recording of 1228 events of 19 mammalian species, including domesticated livestock. Simultaneously, the collection of twenty snow leopard scat samples over 3800 m above sea level allowed for a detailed dietary analysis. Photo capture rate index and biomass composition analysis were carried out and seasonal prey availability and consumption were statistically analyzed. A total of 16 potential prey species for the snow leopard were documented during the study period. Himalayan musk deer () was the most abundant prey species, but infrequent in the diet suggesting that are not the best bet prey for the snow leopards. Snow leopards were found to exhibit a diverse diet, consuming eleven prey species, with blue sheep () being their most consumed wild prey and horses as their preferred livestock. The Pianka's index of dietary niche overlap between the summer and winter seasons were 0.576, suggesting a pronounced seasonal variation in food preference corroborating with the prey availability. The scarcity of larger preys in winter is compensated by small and meso-mammals in the diet, highlighting the snow leopard's capacity for dietary plasticity in response to the variation in resource availability. This research suggests for the utilization of genetic tools to further explore snow leopard diet composition. Additionally, understanding transboundary movements and conducting population assessments will be imperative for the formulation of effective conservation strategies.
像雪豹（）这样的顶级食肉动物的保护策略，依赖于对它们的饮食偏好、猎物丰富度以及对不断变化的生态条件的适应能力的深入了解。为了解决这些关键的保护问题，本研究提供了关于2021年11月至2023年3月尼泊尔喜马拉雅山脉拉普奇山谷雪豹猎物可获得性和偏好的全面证据。通过在16个经过精心挑选的地点安装26个相机陷阱收集实地数据，记录了19种哺乳动物的1228次活动，其中包括家养牲畜。同时，在海拔3800米以上收集了20份雪豹粪便样本，以便进行详细的饮食分析。进行了照片捕获率指数和生物量组成分析，并对季节性猎物可获得性和消耗量进行了统计分析。在研究期间共记录了16种雪豹的潜在猎物物种。喜马拉雅麝鹿（）是数量最多的猎物物种，但在雪豹饮食中出现频率较低，这表明它并非雪豹的最佳猎物选择。研究发现雪豹的饮食多样，食用11种猎物，岩羊（）是其最常捕食的野生猎物，马是它们最喜欢捕食的家畜。夏季和冬季之间的派恩卡饮食生态位重叠指数为0.576，表明食物偏好存在明显的季节性变化，这与猎物可获得性情况相符。冬季大型猎物的稀缺由小型和中型哺乳动物在饮食中的补充来弥补，这突出了雪豹在面对资源可获得性变化时饮食可塑性的能力。这项研究建议利用基因工具进一步探索雪豹的饮食组成。此外，了解跨界移动并进行种群评估对于制定有效的保护策略至关重要。
