Elusive cats in our backyards: persistence of the North Chinese leopard (Panthera pardus japonensis) in a human‐dominated landscape in central China

Abstract

The North Chinese leopard (Panthera pardus japonensis), the least‐known big cat, disappeared in most historical range for decades, following the development of modern civilization. Unfortunately, we have scarce knowledge about the status of this big cat so far, apart from anecdotal reports. In this study, we investigated density, distribution, and habitat use of the leopard, the apex predator, in a complex forest landscape in the Loess Plateau. We used a camera‐trapping network to obtain population estimates for leopards over 2 years through spatially explicit capture–recapture models. Our results, based on maximum likelihood and Bayesian/MCMC methods, reveal that the largest wild population of the leopard was found widely distributed in remnant forests in central Loess plateau. The population is increasing in our study area, and the density of leopards (1.70 (SE = 0.48) − 2.40 (SE = 0.67)/100 km2) is higher than other areas of China. According to the analysis of 2 seasonal occupancy models, prey species drive partially the leopard habitat use, predicting that the big cat thrives from the recovery of prey community. However, human disturbances, especially oil wells, seem to have negative impacts on the habitat use of leopards. Specifically, it is necessary to have joint efforts by the government and researchers to improve human disturbances management and prey species population density, as well as strengthen the investment in research on the North Chinese leopard, which could all further strengthen protection ability and ensure the long‐term survival of this species.

Population Density and Driving Factors of North China Leopards in Tie Qiao Shan Nature Reserve

“…There are reports that the habitat of the North China leopard is facing widespread shrinkage and destruction [1]. However, the population density of North China leopards in the study area is relatively high [24]. In addition, according to the unpublished gene exchange study of the North China leopard population in the research group, research found that the North China leopard in the study area had serious inbreeding pressure.…”

Temporal activity patterns of North China leopards and their prey in response to moonlight and habitat factors

“…Other studies also revealed that leopards avoided human settlements, and wild boar are considered a pest animal or otherwise are negatively perceived by people including because of crop damage (Zhou et al, 2021 ; Zhu et al, 2021 ); wild boar may, therefore, adopt spatiotemporal avoidance behaviors. However, species interactions and activities may be context specific as others have found that ungulate herbivores during daytime overlap with humans on foot in different habitats (Yang et al, 2021 ).…”

“…While we expect that leopards move throughout the fragmented landscape by using high elevation corridors, these highest areas also may provide suitable habitat and maximum hunting opportunity for ungulates or medium‐sized prey (Pu et al, 2019 ); the relationships with elevation were consistent across leopards and two of three prey species studied, while the leopards and roe deer had similar use of areas near to secondary roads during the daytime. (Yang et al, 2021 ; Zhu et al, 2021 ).…”

“…The data processing was completed by specialists in Prof. Jiang Guangshun's research teams at the Feline Research Center of National Forestry and Grassland Administration (Northeast Forestry University) who completed species identification and data arrangement. Note that in our analyses, as we did not conduct diet analyses, we referred to literature to determine potential prey species of leopards (Table S1 ) including Sri Lankan leopard ( P. p. kotiya) (Kittle et al, 2014 ), Indian leopards (P. p.fusca) (Desai et al, 2021 ; Kshettry et al, 2018 ), Amur leopards ( p. p. orientalis ) (Yang, Dou, et al, 2018 ), Persian leopards (P. p. saxicolor) (Sharbafi et al, 2016 ), Arabian leopard ( P. p. Nimr ) (Stuart, 2017 ), Indochinese leopards ( P. p. delacouri ) (Drew, 2000 ; Stuart & Stuart, 2007 ), snow leopard ( Panthera uncial ) (Khatoon et al, 2017 ), North China leopard (Yang et al, 2021 ), African leopard ( P. p. pardus ) (Havmøller et al, 2021 ), Javan leopard (P. p. melas) (Rahman et al, 2018 ).…”

“…We assumed that most cats are nocturnal (Bhatt et al, 2021 ) or crepuscular, and that they hunt in the dark (Fernández Moya et al, 2021 ). Hence, it may be logical to assume that the lunar phase could also affect hunting success and influence prey to reduce their nighttime activity and shift to daytime to reduce predatory attacks (Yang et al, 2021 ). We also expect that predator–prey daytime activity may be influenced by human activities on foot occurring at lower elevations (Qi et al, 2022 ), and that low human activity at nighttime can drive the activity of predators and prey at low elevation (Zhu et al, 2021 ), while also avoiding human settlements (Lamichhane et al, 2019 ; Qi et al, 2022 ).…”