Home Ranges, Movements and Activity Patterns of Leopard Cats (Prionailurus bengalensis) and Threats to Them in Taiwan

The first radio tracking study on the endangered leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) in Taiwan was conducted from November 2006 to April 2008. Average minimum convex polygon home range size for combined sex was 5.0 km2 (SD = 3.2, N = 4). Males had much larger home ranges than females, but only males reduced their ranges significantly in the dry season. Home ranges overlapped a little between individuals, but their core areas were not overlapped suggesting territoriality. Taiwanese leopard cats in our study area tended to avoid large artificial open areas like agriculture land and man-made construction. Movement analyses showed that males were more mobile than females, but females used their home range in a more concentrated manner. They were nocturnal and exhibited crepuscular activity patterns in the wet season, but were arrhythmic in the dry season. Nocturnal activity was low during the dry season. We found 100% mortality of radio-tagged individuals due to anthropogenic reasons within one year. Our study found that illegal poisoning and trapping was often overlooked but had a profound effect on the survival of the local Taiwanese leopard cat population.