Leopard prey choice in the Congo Basin rainforest suggests exploitative competition with human bushmeat hunters

Journal of Zoology

Volumn 285, Issue 1, 2011, Pages 11-20

  Henschel, P ^a   Hunter, L T B ^a   Coad, L ^b   Abernethy, K A ^c,d   Muhlenberg M ^e  

^a PANTHERA   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD   (United Kingdom)

^c UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING   (United Kingdom)

^d Institut de Recherches en Ecologie Tropicale   (Gabon)

^e UNIVERSITY OF GÖTTINGEN   (Germany)

Author keywords

Bushmeat; Competition; Congo Basin; Leopard; Panthera pardus; Prey

Indexed keywords

ABUNDANCE; ANTHROPOGENIC EFFECT; BODY MASS; BUSHMEAT; DIET; FELID; HABITAT MANAGEMENT; HUMAN SETTLEMENT; HUNTING; LAND MANAGEMENT; NICHE OVERLAP; POPULATION DECLINE; POPULATION DENSITY; PREY SELECTION; PROTECTED AREA; RAINFOREST;

CONGO BASIN; GABON;

FELIDAE; PANTHERA; PANTHERA PARDUS;

EID: 80051936411     PISSN: 09528369     EISSN: 14697998     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2011.00826.x     Document Type: Article

References (55)

1. Abernethy, K.A., White, L.J.T. & Wickings, E.J. (2002). Hordes of mandrills: extreme group size and seasonal male presence. J. Zool. (Lond.) 258, 131-137.
2. Ackerman, B.B., Lindzey, F.G. & Hemker, T.P. (1984). Cougar food habits in Southern Utah. J. Wildl. Mgmt. 48, 147-155.
3. Balme, G., Slotow, R. & Hunter, L.T.B. (2010). Edge effects and the impact of non-protected areas in carnivore conservation: leopards in the Phinda-Mkhuze Complex, South Africa. Anim. Conserv. 13, 315-323.
4. Carbone, C., Mace, G.M., Roberts, S.C. & Macdonald, D.W. (1999). Energetic constraints on the diet of terrestrial carnivores. Nature 402, 286-288.
5. Carbone, C., Pettorelli, N. & Stephens, P.A. (2011). The bigger they come, the harder they fall: body size and prey abundance influence predator-prey ratios. Biol. Lett. 7, 312-315.
6. Clark, C.J., Poulsen, J.R., Malonga, R. & Elkan, P.W. (2009). Logging Concessions Can Extend the Conservation Estate for Central African Tropical Forests. Conser. Biol. 23, 1281-1293.
7. Coad, L. (2007). Bushmeat hunting in Gabon: socio-economics and hunter behaviour. PhD thesis, University of Cambridge and Imperial College, London.
8. Colwell, R.K. & Futuyma, D.J. (1971). On the measurement of niche breadth and overlap. Ecology 52, 567-576.
9. Cowlishaw, G., Mendelson, S. & Rowcliffe, M.J. (2005). Evidence for post-depletion sustainability in a mature bushmeat market. J. Appl. Ecol. 42, 460-468.
10. Fa, J.E., Juste, J., Perez Del Val, J. & Castroviejo, J. (1995). Impact of market hunting on mammal species in Equatorial Guinea. Conserv. Biol. 9, 1107-1115.
11. Fa, J.E., Peres, C.A. & Meeuwig, J. (2002). Bushmeat exploitation in tropical forests: an intercontinental comparison. Conserv. Biol. 16, 232-237.
12. Fa, J.E., Ryan, S.F. & Bell, D.J. (2005). Hunting vulnerability, ecological characteristics and harvest rates of bushmeat species in afrotropical forests. Biol. Conserv. 121, 167-176.
13. Hart, J.A., Katembo, M. & Punga, K. (1996). Diet, prey selection and ecological relations of leopard and golden cat in the Ituri Forest, Zaire. African J. Ecol. 34, 364-379.
14. Hayward, M.W. (2009). Moving beyond the descriptive: predicting the responses of top-order predators to reintroduction. In Reintroduction of top-order predators: 345-370. Hayward, M.W. & Somers, M. (Eds) Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
15. Hayward, M.W., Henschel, P., O'Brien, J., Hofmeyr, M., Balme, G. & Kerley, G.I.H. (2006). Prey preferences of the leopard (Panthera pardus). J. Zool. (Lond.) 270, 298-313.
16. Hayward, M.W. & Kerley, G.I.H. (2008). Prey preferences and dietary overlap amongst Africa's large predators. S. Afr. J. Wildl. Res. 38, 93-108.
17. Hayward, M.W., O'Brien, J. & Kerley, G.I.H. (2007). Carrying capacity of large African predators: predictions and tests. Biol. Conserv. 139, 219-229.
18. Henschel, P. (2008) The conservation biology of the leopard Panthera pardus in Gabon: Status, threats and strategies for conservation. PhD thesis, University of Göttingen, Göttingen.
19. Henschel, P., Abernethy, K.A. & White, L.J.T. (2005). Leopard food habits in the Lopé National Park, Gabon, Central Africa. Afr. J. Ecol. 43, 21-28.
20. Henschel, P. & Ray, J.C. (2003). Leopards in African rainforests: survey and monitoring techniques. New York: Wildlife Conservation Society, Global Carnivore Program.
21. Hunter, L., Henschel, P. & Ray, J.C. (in press). Leopard Panthera pardus. In The mammals of Africa. Vol. 5. Carnivores, Pangolins, Equids, Rhinoceroses (Ed, by J.S.Kingdon & M.Hoffmann ). University of California Press, Berkeley.
22. Jorgenson, J.P. & Redford, K.H. (1993). Humans and big cats as predators in the Neotropics. Symp. Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 65, 367-390.
23. Karanth, K.U. & Stith, B.M. (1999). Prey depletion as a critical determinant of tiger population viability. In Riding the tiger: tiger conservation in human-dominated landscapes: 100-113. Seidensticker, J., Christie, S. & Jackson, P. (Eds) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
24. Karanth, K.U. & Sunquist, M.E. (1995). Prey selection by tiger, leopard and dhole in tropical forests. J. Anim. Ecol. 64, 439-450.
25. Kingdon, J. (1977). East African mammals. An atlas of evolution in Africa. Volume III Part A (Carnivores). London: Academic Press.
26. Laporte, N.T., Stabach, J.A., Grosch, R., Lin, T.S. & Goetz, S.J. (2007). Expansion of industrial logging in Central Africa. Science 316, 1451.
27. Laurance, W.F., Croes, B.M., Tchignoumba, L., Lahm, S.A., Alonso, A., Lee, M.E., Campbell, P. & Ondzeano, C. (2006). Impacts of roads and hunting on central African rainforest mammals. Conserv. Biol. 20, 1251-1261.
28. Levins, R. (1968). Evolution in changing environments. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
29. Linkie, M., Haidir, I.A., Nugroho, A. & Dinata, Y. (2008). Conserving tigers Panthera tigris in selectively logged Sumatran forests. Biol. Conserv. 141, 2410-2415.
30. López González, C.A. & Miller, B.J. (2002). Do jaguars (Panthera onca) depend on large prey? West. N. Am. Nat. 62, 218-222.
31. Muchaal, P.K. & Ngandjui, G. (1999). Impact of village hunting on wildlife populations in the western Dja Reserve, Cameroon. Conserv. Biol. 13, 385-396.
32. Naughton-Treves, L., Mena, J.L., Treves, A., Alvarez, N. & Radeloff, V.C. (2003). Wildlife survival beyond park boundaries: the impact of slash-and-burn agriculture and hunting on mammals in Tambopata, Peru. Conserv. Biol. 17, 1106-1117.
33. Noss, A.J. (1998). The impacts of cable snare hunting on wildlife populations in the forests of the Central African Republic. Conserv. Biol. 12, 390-398.
34. Nowell, K. & Jackson, P. (1996). Wild cats - status survey and conservation action plan. Gland: IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group.
35. O'Brien, T.G., Kinnaird, M.F. & Wibisono, H.T. (2003). Crouching tigers, hidden prey: Sumatran tiger and prey populations in a tropical forest landscape. Anim. Conserv. 6, 131-139.
36. Pianka, E.R. (1973). The structure of lizard communities. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 4, 53-74.
37. Poulsen, J.R., Clark, C.J., Mavah, G. & Elkan, P.W. (2009). Bushmeat supply and consumption in a tropical logging concession in Northern Congo. Conserv. Biol. 23, 1597-1608.
38. Putman, R.J. (1984). Facts from faeces. Mamm. Rev. 14, 79-97.
39. Rabinowitz, A. & Zeller, K.A. (2010). A range-wide model of landscape connectivity and conservation for the jaguar, Panthera onca. Biol. Conserv. 143, 939-945.
40. Ray, J.C. (2001). Carnivore biogeography and conservation in the African forest: a community perspective. In African rainforest ecology and conservation - an interdisciplinary perspective: 214-232. Weber, W., White, L., Vedder, A. & Naughton-Treves, L. (Eds) New Haven: Yale University Press.
41. Ray, J.C. & Sunquist, M.E. (2001). Trophic relations in a community of African rainforest carnivores. Oecologica 127, 395-408.
42. Robinson, J. & Bennett, E. (2000). Hunting for sustainability in tropical forests. New York: Columbia University Press.
43. Starkey, M. (2004) Commerce and subsistence: the hunting, sale and consumption of bushmeat in Gabon. PhD thesis, University of Cambridge, Cambridge.
44. Tutin, C.E.G., White, L.J.T. & Mackanga-Missandzou, A. (1997). The use by rain forest mammals of natural forest fragments in an equatorial African savanna. Conserv. Biol. 11, 1190-1203.
45. UN. (2005). World population prospects. The 2004 revision. New York: Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat.
46. van Vliet, N. & Nasi, R. (2008). Hunting for livelihood in northeast Gabon: patterns, evolution, and sustainability. Ecol. Soc. 13, 33.
47. Vande weghe, J.P. (2006). Ivindo et Mwagna. Eaux noires, forêts vierges et baïs.. Libreville: Wildlife Conservation Society.
48. Waite, T.A. (2007). Revisiting evidence for sustainability of bushmeat hunting in West Africa. Environ. Mgmt. 40, 476-480.
49. White, L.J.T. (1994). Biomass of rain forest mammals in the Lopé Reserve, Gabon. J. Anim. Ecol. 63, 499-512.
50. White, L.J.T. & Abernethy, K.A. (1997). A guide to the vegetation of the Lopé Reserve, Gabon. Libreville: ECOFAC.
51. Wilkie, D.S. & Carpenter, J.F. (1999). Bushmeat hunting in the Congo Basin: an assessment of impacts and options for mitigation. Biodivers. Conserv. 8, 927-955.
52. Wilkie, D.S., Morelli, G.A., Demmer, J., Starkey, M., Telfer, P. & Steil, M. (2006). Parks and People: assessing the Human Welfare Effects of Establishing Protected Areas for Biodiversity Conservation. Conserv. Biol. 20, 247-249.
53. WNN. (2006) World News Network. Available at (accessed October 31, 2006).
54. Woodroffe, R., Lindsey, P.A., Romanach, S.S. & ole Ranah, S.M.K. (2007). African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) can subsist on small prey: implications for conservation. J. Mammal. 88, 181-193.
55. WRI. (2009). Interactive forest atlas for Gabon. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute.