Home range, habitat selection, density, and diet of golden jackals in the Eastern Plains Landscape, Cambodia
| Autor: | Tazarve Gharajehdaghipour, Chen Pay, Christin Minge, Rachel Crouthers, Visattha In, Chanratana Pin, Prum Sovanna, David W. Macdonald, Jan F. Kamler, Susana Rostro-García |
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| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Ungulate Home range Zoology food habits 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Predation Srepok Wildlife Sanctuary biology.animal Genetics Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Nature and Landscape Conservation prey selection Ecology biology AcademicSubjects/SCI01396 Canis aureus biology.organism_classification Feature Articles 010601 ecology Habitat biomass consumed Jackal processional termites Animal Science and Zoology Panthera Muntjac |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Mammalogy |
| ISSN: | 1545-1542 0022-2372 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/jmammal/gyab014 |
| Popis: | We used radiocollars and GPS collars to determine the movements and habitat selection of golden jackals (Canis aureus) in a seasonally dry deciduous forest with no human settlements in eastern Cambodia. We also collected and analyzed 147 scats from jackals to determine their seasonal diet and prey selection. The mean (± SE) annual size of home-range ranges (47.1 ± 2.5 km2; n = 4), which were mutually exclusive between mated pairs, was considerably larger than that previously reported for this species, resulting in an extremely low density (0.01 jackal/km2). The unusually large home ranges and low density probably were due to the harsh dry season when most understory vegetation is burned and nearly all waterholes dry up, thereby causing a large seasonal decline in the availability of small vertebrate prey. Resident groups consisted of an alpha pair, but no betas, and were situated only in areas not occupied by leopards (Panthera pardus) and dholes (Cuon alpinus). Jackals avoided dense forests and streams, and had a strong selection for dirt roads, possibly to avoid larger predators. Overall the jackal diet was diverse, with at least 16 prey items identified, and there was no significant difference in diet composition between the cool-dry and hot-dry seasons. Scat analysis showed that the main food items consumed by jackals were processional termites (Hospitalitermes spp.; 26% biomass consumed), followed by wild pig (Sus scrofa; 20%), muntjac (Muntiacus vaginalis; 20%), and civets (17%). Compared to available biomass, jackals were not random in their consumption of ungulates because muntjac were selectively consumed over larger ungulate species. Dietary overlap with dholes and leopards was relatively low, and consumption patterns indicated jackals were preying on ungulates rather than scavenging from kills of larger carnivores. Our results showed that the jackal is an extremely adaptable and opportunistic species that exhibits unique behaviors to survive in an extreme environment near the edge of its distribution. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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