Monitoring and habitat suitability of common leopard (Panthera pardus) in Kumbalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary, Southern Rajasthan
Student name: Ms Jyoti Kashyap
Guide: Dr Joachim Schmerbeck
Year of completion: 2011
Host Organisation: Foundation for Ecological Security (FES)
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Dr Justus Joshua
Abstract: The habitat and food habit of leopard (Panthera pardus) was studied in Kumbhalgarh Wildlife
Sanctuary, Southern Rajasthan. Since the baseline estimate of density of potential prey species
was not available for this sanctuary, prey density was also estimated following line transect
method. Scat analysis was done to estimate prey biomass and prey preference of leopard. Density
estimates revealed that density of medium sized prey was very less especially of ungulates which
include sambar, four-horned antelope and wild pig. Common langur was found to be in high
density followed by junglefowl and peafowl. Also, relative occurrence of common langur in scat
is more followed by rodents and livestock. Encounter rate of common langur was found to be
more than other available prey except of nilgai whose encounter rate was found to be more in
thorn forest. Also encounter rate of medium sized prey was very less and are encountered only in
dry deciduous forest. Habitat suitability of leopard was also done using ENFA (Ecological Niche
Factor Analysis) in Biomapper. Leopard presence was found to be positively correlated with
shrub cover, shrub height, encounter rate of prey, waterholes and grass cover. It was negatively
correlated with distance from villages. Leopard shows specialization with respect to elevation
and slope which means that although these factors are more than the global mean, it does not
prefer elevation and slope. Although, it shows correlation with respect to waterholes, but it was
not so strong because of the distribution of waterholes near the villages. The habitat model also
shows the availability of medium suitable habitat but it needs to be ground truthed and should be
validated so that proper management action should be taken.
Keywords: Prey density, Food habits, Ecological Niche Factor Analysis, Leopard
