The ecology and predator–prey dynamics of large felids in the tropics have largely been studied in natural systems where wild ungulates constitute the majority of the prey base. However, in tropical countries where communities are primarily agrarian, the high density of domestic animals in human-dominated landscapes can be a potential prey source for large carnivores. We demonstrate almost complete dependence of the Vulnerable leopard Panthera pardus fusca in the Jhalana Reserve Forest in Jaipur, north-west India on domestic animals as prey. We analysed 132 leopard scats collected during the dry season of November 2017–April 2018. Domestic animals comprised the majority of the leopards' prey (89.5% frequency of occurrence): dogs Canis lupus familiaris (44%), cats Felis catus (13%), goats Capra aegagrus hircus (16%) and cattle Bos taurus (15%). Wild species, which occurred in the leopards' diet at a relatively low frequency, were rodents, the hare Lepus nigricollis, small Indian civet Viverricula indica, rhesus macaque Macaca mulatta, northern plains grey langur Semnopithecus entellus and mongoose Herpestes edwardsii. Diet is also a function of availability of potential prey, but no data are available on the density of the leopard's wild prey species in Jhalana Reserve Forest. Nevertheless, our results suggest that abundance of domestic prey around Jhalana Reserve Forest sustains the c. 25 known leopards. We conclude that these leopards, by preying on feral dogs in an urban environment, could be considered as suppliers of a service to the human population amongst whom they thrive, although this potentially exposes the leopards to the canine distemper virus.

中文翻译：

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印度斋浦尔豹豹 Panthera pardus fusca 对家畜的依赖

热带大型猫科动物的生态学和捕食者-猎物动态主要在野生有蹄类动物构成大部分猎物基础的自然系统中进行了研究。然而，在社区主要以农业为主的热带国家，人类主导景观中的高密度家畜可能成为大型食肉动物的潜在猎物来源。我们证明了 Vulnerable leopard 几乎完全依赖黑豹在印度西北部斋浦尔的贾拉纳保护区，以家畜为猎物。我们分析了 2017 年 11 月至 2018 年 4 月旱季收集的 132 份豹子粪便。豹子的大部分猎物都是家畜（发生频率为 89.5%）：狗犬狼疮(44%)，猫猫科动物(13%), 山羊Capra aegagrus hircus(16%) 和牛金牛座（15%）。野生物种，在豹子的饮食中以相对较低的频率出现，是啮齿动物，野兔黑兔, 小印度灵猫籼稻, 恒河猴猕猴桃, 北部平原灰叶猴仙人掌和猫鼬爱德华氏疱疹. 饮食也是潜在猎物可用性的函数，但没有关于贾拉纳保护区森林中豹子野生猎物物种密度的数据。尽管如此，我们的结果表明，贾拉纳保护区森林周围丰富的国内猎物维持了 c。25 只已知的豹子。我们得出的结论是，这些豹子通过在城市环境中捕食野狗，可以被视为为它们茁壮成长的人群提供服务，尽管这可能会使豹子暴露于犬瘟热病毒。