Understanding the interspecific interactions (spatial and temporal) between predators and their prey species is important to understanding the prey preferences for conservation and management decisions. However, due to large predators’ wide-ranging, nocturnal, and cryptic behaviour, it is often difficult to assess their interactions with prey species. Therefore, we determined the spatial and temporal interactions of leopard (Panthera pardus) with potential prey species in Kalesar National Park (KNP) using camera traps from January 2020 to April 2020. KNP is situated in the foothills of the Shiwalik mountain range of Himalaya, North India. We used encounter rates and activity patterns to understand the spatial and temporal overlap between leopards and prey species. We used composite scores to predict the potential prey preferences using the photo-capture data. A total sampling effort of 1150 trap nights documented 92 photo-captures of leopards with a detection rate of 17.3 leopards per 100/trap nights. Leopards exhibited bimodal peaks and were active throughout the day and night but showed more diurnal activity. Leopards had the highest temporal overlap with chital (Axis axis) and wild boar (Sus scrofa) and the highest spatial overlap with wild boar, peafowl (Pavo cristatus), and sambar (Rusa unicolor). Due to their high composite scores, wild boar, sambar, peafowl, and chital were predicted the most preferred prey species for leopards. Our results suggest that effective management of preferred prey species in the area is required to ensure the conservation of the leopard population.

了解捕食者与其猎物物种之间的种间相互作用（空间和时间）对于了解猎物对保护和管理决策的偏好非常重要。然而，由于大型捕食者的范围广泛、夜间活动和神秘行为，通常很难评估它们与猎物物种的相互作用。因此，我们确定了豹（Panthera pardus) 在 2020 年 1 月至 2020 年 4 月期间使用相机陷阱在 Kalesar 国家公园 (KNP) 捕获潜在的猎物。KNP 位于印度北部喜马拉雅山脉的 Shiwalik 山脉的山脚下。我们使用遭遇率和活动模式来了解豹子和猎物物种之间的空间和时间重叠。我们使用综合分数来预测使用照片捕捉数据的潜在猎物偏好。对 1150 个陷阱之夜的总采样工作记录了 92 次豹的照片捕获，每 100 个陷阱之夜的检测率为 17.3 只豹子。豹子表现出双峰，白天和晚上都很活跃，但昼夜活动更多。豹与白斑（Axis axis）和野猪（Sus scrofa ）的时间重叠最高。) 并且与野猪、孔雀 ( Pavo cristatus ) 和水鹿 ( Rusa unicolor ) 的空间重叠度最高。由于它们的综合得分很高，野猪、水鹿、孔雀和白鲟被预测为豹子最喜欢的猎物。我们的研究结果表明，需要对该地区的首选猎物进行有效管理，以确保保护豹子种群。