Competition and coexistence between tigers and leopards in Asia

Abstract

Background & Aim: As apex carnivores, tigers (Panthera tigris) and leopards (P. pardus) play critical roles in maintaining the structural and functional stability of Asian forest ecosystems. The populations and ranges of these two felids have declined due to human disturbance. To mitigate anthropogenic threats to endangered species in these ecosystems, it is essential that we understand how tigers and leopards interact. Although competition between tigers and leopards has been studied for several decades, most studies have taken place in the famous reserves like Nagarahole Natural Park and Chitwan National Park in South Asia, so it is unknown how their interactions differ elsewhere in their overlapping range. Here, we review 36 previous papers on competitive interactions between the two big cats from 1976 to 2021. We summarize the nature of both interference and exploitation competition between tigers and leopards in their current overlapping range, as well as how prey and human disturbance shapes this competition. Review Results: We found that the most important factors affecting tiger-leopard competition and coexistence included species richness at various size classes of prey and also the spatial distribution of human disturbance. Local habitat,

Topics & Concepts