Sympatric Distribution and Activity Patterns Between the Endangered Tsushima Leopard Cats Prionailurus bengalensis euptilurus and Two Domestic Carnivore Species in Tsushima Island, Japan

The endangered Tsushima leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis euptilurus, has some survival challenges, such as predation and disease transmission via domestic dogs Canis lupus familiaris and free-ranging cats Felis catus living outdoors on Tsushima Island, Japan. We compared the distribution and activity patterns of P. b. euptilurus, stray dogs, and free-ranging cats in the field using data from 11 camera traps between 2014 and 2018, to study the possibility of direct and indirect effects of the close proximity of P. b. euptilurus to stray dogs and free-ranging cats. P. b. euptilurus were captured 439 times in the northern region using camera traps. The distribution of stray dogs and free-ranging cats widely overlapped that of P. b. euptilurus in the northern area, which is the main habitat of this species. Free-ranging cats were widely observed, although the overall frequency of photographs was low. The overlap coefficient of the activity patterns between free-ranging cats and P. b. euptilurus was high. Therefore, stray dogs and free-ranging cats may have negative impacts of predation, food competition, and disease transmission to P. b. euptilurus.