Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-45l2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T04:10:35.471Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The carnivore community in a dry tropical forest mosaic in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Alan R. Rabinowitz  and
Susan R. Walker
Alan R. Rabinowitz
Affiliation:
Wildlife Conservation Internationl, New York Zoological Sociey, Bronx Zoo, Bronx, New York 10400USA
Susan R. Walker
Affiliation:
Biology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

An assessment of carnivore species richness and food habits was carried out in a 100 km2 area of dry tropical forest in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand. Twenty-one carnivore species of five families were found to be feeding on at least 34 mammal species, as well as birds, lizards, snakes, crabs, fish, insects, and fruits. Forty-four percent of the prey identified in faeces of larger carnivores, primarily leopards, consisted of barking deer, Muntiacus muntjak. Sambar deer, macaques, wild boar, porcupine, and hog badger were important secondary prey items. In faeces from small carnivores (< 10kg), murid rodents accounted for 33% of identified food items. The two most frequently encountered mammalian prey species were the yellow rajah rat, Maxomys surifer, and the bay bamboo rat, Cannomys badius. Non-mammal prey accounted for 21.3%, and fruit seeds for 12.4%, of all food items found in small carnivore faeces.

Keywords

carnivorecommunity ecologydry tropical forestThailand
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , February 1991 , pp. 37 - 47
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bhumpakkapun, N., Kutintara, U. & Naksatit, N. 1985. The Wild Fauna of Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary. Dept. Of Forest Biology, Kasetsart University Report, Thailand. 19 Pp.Google Scholar
Cohen, J. A., Fox, M. W., Johnsingh, A. J. T. & Barnett, B. D. 1978. Food habits of the Dhole in South India. Journal of Wildlife Management 42(4):933–936.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisenberg, J. F. & Lockhart, M. C. 1972. An ecological reconnaissance of Wilpattu Park, Ceylon. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 101:1–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gittelman, J. L. & Harvey, P. H. 1982. Carnivore home-range size, metabolic needs and ecology. Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology 10:57–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnsingh, A. J. T. 1982. Reproductive and social behaviour of the Dhole, Cuon alpinus (Canidac). Journal of Zoology, London 198:443–463.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnsingh, A. J. T. 1983. Large mammalian prey – predators in Bandipur. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 80(1): 1–49.Google Scholar
Johnsingh, A. J. T. 1986. Diversity and conservation of carnivorous mammals in India. Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Science Supplement 73–89.Google Scholar
Lekagul, B. & McNeely, J. A. 1977. Mammals of Thailand. Association for the Conservation of Wildlife, Bangkok. 758 pp.Google Scholar
Muckenhirn, N. A. & Eisenberg, J. F. 1973. Home ranges and predation of the Ceylon leopard. Pp. 142–175 in Eaton, R. L. (ed.). The world's cats, Vol. 1. World Wildlife Safari, Winston, Oregon.Google Scholar
Musser, G. G. 1979. Definition and contents of the Sundaic genus Maxomys (Rodcntia, Muridac). Journal of Mammalogy: 60 592–606.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Musser, G. G. 1981. Results of the Archibold Expeditions. No. 105. Notes on the syslematics of Indo-Malayan murid rodents, and descriptions of new genera and species from Ceylon, Sulawesi, and the Philippines. Bulletin American Museum of Natural History 168:1–334.Google Scholar
Musser, G. G. & Newcombe, C. 1983. Malaysian murids and the giant rat of Sumatra. Bulletin American Museum of Natural History 174:329–598.Google Scholar
Rabinowitz, A. 1989. The density and behaviour of large cats in a dry tropical forest mosaic in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand. Natural History Bulletin of the Siam Society 37(2):235–251.Google Scholar
Rabinowitz, A. (a) Behavior and movements of sympatric civet species in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand. Journal of Zoology, London (in press).Google Scholar
Rabinowitz, A. (b) Notes on the behavior and movements of leopard cats, Felis bengalensis, in a dry tropical forest mosaic in Thailand. Biotropica (in press).Google Scholar
Ramachandran, K. K., Vijayakumaran Nair, P. & Easa, P. S. 1986. Ecology of larger mammals of Pcriyar Wildlife Sanctuary. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 83:505–524.Google Scholar
Rice, C. 1986. Observations on predators and prey at Eravikulam National Park, Kerala. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 83(2):283–305.Google Scholar
Rosenzweig, M. L. 1966. Community structure in sympatric Carnivora. Journal of Mammalogy 47(4): 602–612.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schaller, G. B. 1967. The deer and the tiger: a study of wildlife in India. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. 370 pp.Google Scholar
Schaller, G. B. 1972. The Serengeti Lion: a study of predator – prey relations. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 480 pp.Google Scholar
Seidensticker, J. M. 1976. On the ecological separation between tigers and leopards. Biotropica 8: 225–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smuts, G. L. 1978. Interrelations between predators, prey, and their environment. BioScience 28(5):316–320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Srikosamatara, S. Density and biomass of mammals in a mixed forest dominated by dry dipterocarp forest or savanna forest of western Thailand. Thai Journal of Forestry (in press).Google Scholar
Stott, P. 1986. The spatial pattern of dry season fires in the savanna forests of Thailand. Journal of Biogeography 13:345–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stott, P. 1988. The forest as phoenix: Towards a biogeography of fire in mainland south east Asia. The Geographical Journal 154(3):337–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sunquist, M. E. 1981. The social organization of tigers (Panthera pardus) in Royal Chitawan National Park, Nepal. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, No. 336. 98 pp.Google Scholar
Thitathamakul, P. 1985. Vegetation change along the altitudinal gradient in Huay Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary M.S. Thesis, University of Kaselsart, Bangkok. 157 pp.Google Scholar
Wilson, D. S. 1975. The adequacy of body size as a niche difference. American Naturalist 109:769–784.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yin, U. Tin. 1967. Wild animals of Burma. Rangoon Gazette Ltd., Rangoon. 301 pp.Google Scholar