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Lynam, A.J.; Jenks, K.E.; Tantipisanuh, N.; Chutipong, W.; Ngoprasert, D.; Gale, G.A.; Steinmetz, R.; Sukmasuang, R.; Bhumpakphan, N.; Grassman Jr., L.I.; Cutter, P.; Kitamura, S.; Reed, D.H.; Baker, M.C.; McShea, W.; Songsasen, N.; Leimgruber, P.
Terrestrial activity patterns of wild cats from camera-trapping
2013  The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology (61): 407-415

The behaviour of wild cats is poorly understood. Using camera-trapping, we quantified temporal overlap among seven species of Asian wild cats, including tiger _Panthera tigris_ and leopard _Panthera pardus_. Based on time stamp data from 780 camera-traps and 24 study sites from 14 protected areas across Thailand, we assessed terrestrial activity patterns and temporal overlap in habitat use. For quantifying overlap, we used a coefficient estimator that allows for calculation of confidence intervals. Our study provided insight into temporal interactions among species of wild cats, particularly between small cats and their larger cat relatives. We found temporal habitat segregation in several small cats with some species being strongly nocturnal (.85% records between 1800 and 0600 hours - leopard cat _Prionailurus bengalensis_), mostly (>50%) nocturnal (clouded leopard _Neofelis nebulosa_), mostly diurnal (>50% records between 0600 and 1800 hours - Asiatic golden cat _Catopuma temminckii_), or strongly (.85%) diurnal (marbled cat _Pardofelis marmorata_). We found high temporal overlap ( . 0.80) between leopard cat and clouded leopard (95% CI = 0.77-0.91), Asiatic golden cat and leopard (95% CI = 0.69-0.87), Asiatic golden cat and tiger (95% CI = 0.72-0.90), and clouded leopard and tiger (95% CI = 0.69-0.85). Our research demonstrates that temporal habitat or niche segregation may be an important process in maintaining the functioning of diverse predator guilds in tropical forests. We developed several avoidance or overlap hypotheses that can explain the patterns observed in our study and that should be further tested.

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