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Prowling Through Palm: Exploring Spatial Patterns of male Sunda Leopard Cats across two Oil Palm Plantations in Kinabatangan, Sabah
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  • Amanda Wilson,
  • Henry Bernard,
  • Macarena González-Abarzúa,
  • Sergio Guerrero-Sánchez,
  • Liesbeth Frias,
  • Miriam Kunde,
  • Benoit Goossens
Amanda Wilson
UMS
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Henry Bernard
Universiti Malaysia Sabah
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Macarena González-Abarzúa
The University of Hong Kong
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Sergio Guerrero-Sánchez
City University of Hong Kong
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Liesbeth Frias
NUS
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Miriam Kunde
Danau Girang Field Centre
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Benoit Goossens
Cardiff University

Corresponding Author:goossensbr@cardiff.ac.uk

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Abstract

Industrial oil palm plantations threaten biodiversity in Southeast Asia, yet some native species are highly adaptable within these environments. Our study investigates the space use of leopard cats (Prionailurus javanensis) within oil palm plantations adjacent to degraded forest fragments in the Kinabatangan floodplain, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. From March to September 2020, we captured and collared four male cats with GPS collars, accumulating a total of 13,206 successful locational points. We estimated the home ranges using the Minimum Convex Polygon (MCP) and adaptative Localised Convex Hull (a-LoCoH) methods. The average home ranges were 8.60 km² ± 1.98 (± SD) [95% MCP] and 5.39 km² ± 1.23 [95% a-LoCoH], with corresponding core areas of 2.55 km² ± 0.99 (± SD) [50% MCP] and 1.05 km² ± 0.30 [50% a-LoCoH]. The home ranges of male leopard cats overlapped (7% to 28%), while core areas remained exclusive. Despite significant variations in individual habitat use, these cats were detected more frequently in oil palm habitat, occupying 80.89% of their home range and 78.38% of core area. Interestingly, they relied more on buffer zones contiguous to plantation area rather than adjacent secondary forests, highlighting the importance of preserving High Conservation Value (HCV) forests.
10 Oct 2024Submitted to Ecological Research
13 Oct 2024Submission Checks Completed
13 Oct 2024Assigned to Editor
13 Oct 2024Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
19 Oct 2024Reviewer(s) Assigned
30 Nov 2024Editorial Decision: Revise Minor