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More than fish: diet composition fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) in human-dominated landscape
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  • Rama Mishra,
  • Laura Bertola,
  • Herwig Leirs,
  • Sabin Adhikari,
  • Babu Ram Lamichhane,
  • Naresh Subedi,
  • Utsav Neupane,
  • Shekhar Kolipaka,
  • Prajwol Manandhar,
  • Saman Pradhan,
  • Asmita Pageni,
  • Hans de Iongh
Rama Mishra
University of Antwerp

Corresponding Author:l.mishrarama@gmail.com

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Laura Bertola
University of Copenhagen
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Herwig Leirs
Universiteit Antwerpen Departement Biologie
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Sabin Adhikari
Wildlife Conservation and Research Endeavour
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Babu Ram Lamichhane
National Trust for Nature Conservation
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Naresh Subedi
National Trust for Nature Conservation
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Utsav Neupane
National Trust for Nature Conservation
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Shekhar Kolipaka
Leo Foundation
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Prajwol Manandhar
Center for Molecular Dynamics Nepal
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Saman Pradhan
Center for Molecular Dynamics Nepal
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Asmita Pageni
Wildlife Conservation and Research Endeavour
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Hans de Iongh
University of Antwerp
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Abstract

The fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) is a medium-sized wetland specialist threatened felid with limited knowledge base on behavior and ecology. We carried out comprehensive analysis of its diet within a human-dominated landscape in southern Nepal, analyzing scat samples through microscopic analysis and DNA metabarcoding. The microscopic analysis revealed that mammals, primarily rodents, constituted the largest proportion of fishing cat diet (61.73% frequency of occurrence (FO)) followed by birds (43.21% FO) fish (24.69% FO) and reptiles (19.75% FO). However, DNA metabarcoding documented fish as the main diet (70% FO), followed by mammals (63.33% FO) and birds (30% FO). Our findings demonstrate that, fish alone is not a major food source of fishing cats indicate their role to regulate rodents and birds that damages the farm crops. The trophic niche breadth (0.68) shows the fishing cats a diet generalist. We recommend launching awareness programs and programs promoting integrated fish cum paddy farming among fish farmers within the fishing cat range, benefiting both farmers and fishing cat populations. Additionally, targeted conservation measures such as controlling physical and chemical pollution in agricultural and wetland sites are essential to mitigate threats to fishing cat populations. Prioritizing wetland health should be a central strategy in conservation efforts, which will benefit not only fishing cat, but also many co-distributed species.
13 Sep 2024Submitted to Wildlife Biology
16 Sep 2024Submission Checks Completed
16 Sep 2024Assigned to Editor
16 Sep 2024Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
18 Sep 2024Reviewer(s) Assigned