Skip to main content
Log in

Home range structure and space use of a female Amur leopard, Panthera pardus orientalis (Carnivora, Felidae)

  • Published:
Biology Bulletin Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Based on the locations reported over 15 months from the satellite GPS-collar of Amur leopard female, we estimated the size of its home range, the time of parturition, the location of dens, and hunting sites for large prey. The successive changes in the size and location of the home range and the core area during 30-day periods were traced. The home range remains stable, when the female moves without cubs outside the estrus period. During estrus and pregnancy, the size of the home range and the core area increases, and the core area is displaced. After the birth, the sizes of the home range and core area are sharply reduced. After the weaning of the Amur leopard female leaves the den and begins to move across the home range, the sizes of the range and the core area start to increase.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abramov, V.K. and Pikunov, D.G., The snow leopard and its conservation in the Soviet Far East, Byull. Mosk. O-va Ispyt. Prir., Otd. Biol., 1974, vol. 79, no. 2, pp. 5–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bothma, J.D.P. and Le Riche, E.A.N., Aspects of the ecology and the behavior of the leopard Panthera pardus in the Kalahari Desert, Koedoe, 1984, vol. 27, pp. 259–279.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Distantsionnye metody issledovaniya v zoologii. Materialy naucnoi konferentsii (Telemetry Research Methods in Zoology: Proc. Sci. Conf.), Rozhnov, V.V., Ed., Moscow: KMK, 2011.

  • Eaton, R.L., Reproductive biology of the leopard, Zool. Garten, 1977, vol. 47, no. 5, pp. 329–351.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg, J.F. and Lockhart, M.C., An ecological reconnaissance of Wilpattu Park, Ceylon, Smithson. Contrib. Zool., no. 101, Washington, DC: Smithsonian Inst. Press, 1972.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garshelis, D.L. and Pelton, M.R., Movements of black bears in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, J. Wildl. Manag., 1981, vol. 45, pp. 57–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodrich, J.M., Kerley, L.L., Miquelle, D.G., Smirnov, E.N., Schleyer, B.O., and Hornocker, M.G., The social structure of the Amur tiger population in the Sikhote Alin Nature Reserve, in Tigry Sikhote-Alinskogo zapovednika: ekologiya i sokhranenie (Tigers of the Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve: Ecology and Conservation), Miquelle, D.G., Smirnov, E.N., and Goodrich, J.M., Eds., Vladivostok: PSP, 2005, pp. 50–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grassman, L.I., Jr., Ecology and behavior of the Indochinese leopard in Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand, Nat. Hist. Bull. Siam Soc., 1999, vol. 47, pp. 77–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayne, D.W., Calculation of size of home range, J. Mammal., 1949, vol. 30, pp. 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heptner, V.G. and Sludskii, A.A., Mlekopitayushchie Sovetskogo Soyuza (Mammals of the Soviet Union), vol. 2, part 2: Khishchnye (gieny i koshki) (Carnivores: Hyenas and Cats), Moscow: Vysshaya Shkola, 1972.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hooge, P.N. and Eichenlaub, B., Animal Movement Extension to ArcView v. 2.0, Anchorage, AK: Alaska Science Center, Biological Science Office, U.S. Geological Survey, 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenny, D., Spatial organization of leopards Panthera pardus in Tai National Park, Ivory Coast: is rain forest habitat a “tropical haven”?, J. Zool., 1996, vol. 240, pp. 427–440.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaufmann, J.H., On the definitions and functions of dominance and territoriality, Biol. Rev. Cambridge Phil. Soc., 1983, vol. 58, no. 1, pp. 1–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Korkishko, V.G., Snow leopard winter hunt for roe deer, in Prikladnaya etologiya. Materialy III Vsesoyuznoi konferentsii po povedeniyu zhivotnykh (Applied Ethology: Proc. III Int. Conf. on Animal Behavior), Moscow: Nauka, 1983, vol. 3, pp. 219–221.

    Google Scholar 

  • Korkishko, V.G., Social organization of the Far East leopard population, in IVs”ezd Vsesoyuznoi teriologicheskogo obshchestva. Tezisy dokladov, Moskva, 27–31 yanvarya 1986 g. (Abstr. IV Conf. All-Union Theriological Society, Moscow, January 27–31, 1986), Moscow, 1986, vol. 2, pp. 136–137.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lukarevskii, V.S., Leopard, polosataya giena i volk v Turkmenistane (The Leopard, Striped Hyena, and Wolf in Turkmenistan), Moscow: Signar, 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marker, L.L. and Dickman, A.J., Factors affecting leopard (Panthera pardus) spatial ecology, with particular reference to Namibian farmlands, South Afr. J. Wildl. Res., 2005, vol. 35, pp. 105–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mech, D., Telemetry as a technique in the study of predation, J. Wildl. Manag., 1967, vol. 31, pp. 492–496.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, C.S., Hebblewhite, M., Miquelle, J.M., Seredkin, I.V., and Goodrich, J.M., Using GPS collars to estimate the frequency of prey capture by the tiger, in Amurskii tigr v SeveroVostochnoi Azii: problemy sokhraneniya v XXI veke. Mezhdunar. nauchno-prakticheskaya konferentsiya, 15–18 marta 2010 g., Vladivostok (The Amur Tiger in Northeastern Asia: Problems of Conservation in the 21st Century, Proc. Int. Sci.–Pract. Conf., Vladivostok, March 15–18, 2010), Vladivostok: Dal’nauka, 2010, pp. 73–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mizutani, F. and Jewell, P.A., Home-range and movements of leopards (Panthera pardus) on a livestock ranch in Kenya, J. Zool., 1998, vol. 244, pp. 269–286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mondal, K., Ecology of leopard (Panthera pardus) in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, Ph.D. Thesis, Rajkot, Gujarat: Saurashtra University, 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pikunov, D.G., Leopard range and population dynamics in the Russian Far East, 1961–2010, in Amurskii tigr v SeveroVostochnoi Azii: problemy sokhraneniya v XXI veke. Mezhdunar. nauchno-prakticheskaya konferentsiya, 15–18 marta 2010 g., Vladivostok (The Amur Tiger in Northeastern Asia: Problems of Conservation in the 21st Century, Proc. Int. Sci.–Pract. Conf., Vladivostok, March 15–18, 2010), Vladivostok: Dal’nauka, 2010, pp. 334–342.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pikunov, D.G. and Korkishko, V.G., Leopard Dal’nego Vostoka (The Far East Leopard), Moscow: Nauka, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pikunov, D.G., Seredkin, I.V., Aramilev, V.V., Nikolaev, I.G., and Murzin, A.A., Krupnye khishchniki i kopytnye yugozapada Primorskogo kraya (Large Carnivores and Ungulates in Southwestern Primorye), Vladivostok: Dal’nauka, 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pikunov, D.G., Seredkin, I.V., Aramilev, V.V., and Nikolaev, I.G., Population numbers of the Far East leopard, Amur tiger, and ungulates in southwestern Primorye according to 2007 census counts, in Amurskii tigr v SeveroVostochnoi Azii: problemy sokhraneniya v XXI veke. Mezhdunar. nauchno-prakticheskaya konferentsiya, 15–18 marta 2010 g., Vladivostok (The Amur Tiger in Northeastern Asia: Problems of Conservation in the 21st Century, Proc. Int. Sci.–Pract. Conf., Vladivostok, March 15–18, 2010), Vladivostok: Dal’nauka, 2010, pp. 353–356.

    Google Scholar 

  • Powell, R.A., Animal home ranges and territories and home range estimators, in Research Techniques in Animal Ecology, New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 2000, pp. 65–110.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rozhnov, V.V., Hernandez-Blanco, J.A., Lukarevskii, V.S., Naidenko, S.V., Sorokin, P.A., et al., Application of satellite collars to the study of home range and activity of the Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), Zool. Zh., 2011, vol. 90, no. 5, pp. 580–594.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stain, A.B., Fuller, T.K., DeStrefano, S., and Marker, L.L., Leopard population and home range estimates in northcentral Namibia, Afr. J. Ecol., 2011, vol. 49, pp. 383–387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stander, P.E., Haden, P.J., and Kaqece, Gh., The ecology of sociality in Namibian leopards, J. Zool., 1997, vol. 242, pp. 343–364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steyn, V. and Funston, P.J., Land-use and socio-spatial organization of female leopards in a semi-arid wooded savanna, Botswana, South Afr. J. Wildl. Res., 2009, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 126–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swanepoel, L.H. and van Hoven, W., Home range and movement of leopard (Panthera pardus) on selected game and livestock ranches in the Waterberg, Limpopo South Africa, in Ecology and Conservation of Leopards, Panthera pardus, on Selected Game Ranches in the Waterberg Region, Limpopo, South Africa, Pretoria: Univ. of Pretoria Press, 2008, pp. 23–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, G.C. and Garrott, R.A., Analysis of Wildlife RadioTracking Data, San Diego, CA: Academic, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  • Worton, B.J., Kernel methods for estimating the utilization distribution in home-range studies, Ecology, 1989, vol. 70, pp. 164–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to V. V. Rozhnov.

Additional information

Original Russian Text © V.V. Rozhnov, M.D. Chistopolova, V.S. Lukarevskii, J.A. Hernandez-Blanco, S.V. Naidenko, P.A. Sorokin, 2015, published in Zoologicheskii Zhurnal, 2015, Vol. 94, No. 5, pp. 593–603.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rozhnov, V.V., Chistopolova, M.D., Lukarevskii, V.S. et al. Home range structure and space use of a female Amur leopard, Panthera pardus orientalis (Carnivora, Felidae). Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 42, 821–830 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359015090095

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359015090095

Keywords

Navigation