FOOD-HABITS OF ASIATIC LEOPARDS (PANTHERA-PARDUS FUSEA) IN WOLONG RESERVE, SICHUAN, CHINA

Analysis of feces showed Asiatic leopards (Panthera pardus fusea) to c onsume a varied diet over a 7-year period. Tufted deer (Elaphodus ceph alophus) was replaced as the most frequent prey by bamboo rats (Rhizom ys sinense). Fifteen species of large and medium-sized mammals compose d the majority of the diet with pheasants, livestock, grass, and soil being eaten occasionally. Reasons for dietary shifts were unclear and may reflect leopards hunting for any readily captured prey by opportun istic encounter and perhaps by changes in hunting behavior, prey avail ability, or prey vulnerability associated with a bamboo die-off.