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| Wolf, C.; Ripple, W.J. | |
| Prey depletion as a threat to the world's large carnivores | |
| 2016 Royal Society Open Science (3): 1-12 | |
Large terrestrial carnivores are an ecologically important, charismatic and highly endangered group of species. Here, we assess the importance of prey depletion as a driver of large carnivore endangerment globally using lists of prey species for each large carnivore compiled from the literature. We consider spatial variation in prey endangerment, changes in endangerment over time and the causes of prey depletion, finding considerable evidence that loss of prey base is a major and wide-ranging threat among large carnivore species. In particular, the clouded leopard (_Neofelis nebulosa_), Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi), tiger (_Panthera tigris_), dhole (_Cuon alpinus_) and Ethiopian wolf (_Canis simensis_) all have at least 40% of their prey classified as threatened on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and, along with the leopard (_Panthera pardus_), all of these species except the Ethiopian wolf have at least 50% of their prey classified as declining. Of the 494 prey species in our analysis, an average of just 6.9% of their ranges overlap protected areas. Together these results show the importance of a holistic approach to conservation that involves protecting both large carnivores directly and the prey upon which they depend. |
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