Acatamongthedogs:leopardPantherapardusdiet
inahuman-dominatedlandscapeinwestern
Maharashtra,India
VIDYAATHREYA,MORTENODDEN,JOHND.C.LINNELL
JAGDISHKRISHNASWAMYandK.ULLASKARANTH
AbstractTheecologyandpredator–preydynamicsoflargeIntroduction
felidsinthetropicshavelargelybeenstudiedinnaturalsys-
temswherewildungulatesconstitutethemajorityofthetudieshaveshownthatthedensityofcarnivoresisre-
preybase.However,human-dominatedlandscapescanbeSlatedtotheavailabilityofpreybiomass(Fuller
richinpotentialpreyforlargecarnivoresbecauseoftheSievert,????;CarboneGittleman,????;Karanthetal.,
highdensityofdomesticanimals,especiallyintropical????;Khorozyanetal.,????;Carboneetal.,????).These
countrieswherepastoralismisanimportantlivelihoodanalysesarebasedlargelyonstudiesofpreyandpredator
activity.Wereportthealmostcompletedependenceofleo-speciesinnaturalorsemi-naturalecosystems(Fuller
pardsPantherapardusondomesticanimalsaspreyintheSievert,????;CarboneGittleman,????;Andheriaetal.,
croplandsofAhmednagardistrict,Maharashtra,India.????;KaranthNichols,????).However,morerecent
Fromanalysisof??confirmedleopardscats,??%oftheleo-