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<p>Large carnivore populations face numerous threats, yet leopards (<i>Panthera pardus</i>) remain understudied in Bhutan, where conservation is primarily focused on tigers (<i>Panthera tigris</i>). We evaluated the bottom-up and top-down influences on leopard habitat use, vital rates, and activity patterns, and provide the first nationwide estimate of leopard density in Bhutan. Using nationwide camera trap surveys from 2014–2015 to 2021–2022, we applied spatially explicit capture-recapture (SECR) models to estimate leopard density, dynamic two-species occupancy models to assess leopard-tiger habitat use, colonization, and local extinction, and activity-overlap analyses to evaluate temporal partitioning. Mean leopard density was 1.02 individuals/100 km<sup>2</sup> (95% CI 0.89 −1.16), yielding a national population of 318.73 ± 21.73 SE individuals. Leopard density declined with elevation, stream density, and tree cover, while tiger density, human settlement density, and prey availability had weaker context dependent effects. Estimated site use was higher for leopards than tigers and declined with elevation and stream density for both species, while local extinction declined with increasing prey density. Leopards and tigers showed high diel overlap, suggesting little temporal avoidance. Together, these results suggest that leopard persistence in Bhutan’s montane landscapes is structured more strongly by bottom-up habitat and prey conditions than by tiger suppression.</p>

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The influence of bottom-up and top-down effects on the distribution and density of common leopards (Panthera pardus) in an Eastern Himalayan landscape

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年6月26日

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  • Karma Choki,
  • Lisanne S. Petracca,
  • Ellen O. Aikens,
  • Amanda E. Cheeseman

摘要

Large carnivore populations face numerous threats, yet leopards (Panthera pardus) remain understudied in Bhutan, where conservation is primarily focused on tigers (Panthera tigris). We evaluated the bottom-up and top-down influences on leopard habitat use, vital rates, and activity patterns, and provide the first nationwide estimate of leopard density in Bhutan. Using nationwide camera trap surveys from 2014–2015 to 2021–2022, we applied spatially explicit capture-recapture (SECR) models to estimate leopard density, dynamic two-species occupancy models to assess leopard-tiger habitat use, colonization, and local extinction, and activity-overlap analyses to evaluate temporal partitioning. Mean leopard density was 1.02 individuals/100 km2 (95% CI 0.89 −1.16), yielding a national population of 318.73 ± 21.73 SE individuals. Leopard density declined with elevation, stream density, and tree cover, while tiger density, human settlement density, and prey availability had weaker context dependent effects. Estimated site use was higher for leopards than tigers and declined with elevation and stream density for both species, while local extinction declined with increasing prey density. Leopards and tigers showed high diel overlap, suggesting little temporal avoidance. Together, these results suggest that leopard persistence in Bhutan’s montane landscapes is structured more strongly by bottom-up habitat and prey conditions than by tiger suppression.