Date: February 16, 2017
Source: Wildlife Conservation
Society
A new WCS study in India shows
that three carnivores -- tigers, leopards, and dholes (Asian wild dog) --
seemingly in direct competition with one other, are living side by side with
surprisingly little conflict. Usually, big cats and wild canids live in
different locations to avoid each other.
Yet in four relatively small reserves
in India's wildlife-rich Western Ghats region, WCS researchers have found that
they are co-existing, despite competing for much of the same prey, including
sambar deer, chital, and pigs.
Using dozens of non-invasive
camera traps for sampling entire populations, rather than track a handful of
individuals, the research team recorded some 2,500 images of the three
predators in action.
The authors found that in
reserves with an abundance of prey, dholes, which are active during the day,
did not come in much contact with the more nocturnal tigers and leopards. But
in Bhadra Reserve where prey was scarcer, their active times overlapped, yet
dholes still managed to avoid the big cats. In Nagarahole, a park teeming with
all three carnivores and their prey, leopards actively to avoid tigers.
Overall, the authors say that
these carnivores have developed smart adaptations to coexist, even while they
exploit the same prey base. However, these mechanisms vary depending on density
of prey resources and possibly other habitat features.
Said Ullas Karanth, WCS Director
for Science in Asia and lead author of the study: "Tigers, leopards, and
dholes are doing a delicate dance in these protected areas, and all are
managing to survive. We were surprised to see how each species has remarkably
different adaptations to prey on different prey sizes, use different habitat
types and be active at different times. Because of small and isolated nature of
these high prey densities in these reserves, such adaptions are helpful for conservationists
trying to save all three."
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