Research library
🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries
AI-curated summaries for the pride’s library — verify citations independently before citing.
17 summaries in Urban Wildcat Ecology on leopard
Adaptable neighbours: GPS-collared leopard movement in human-dominated India
PaperBy fitting GPS collars to leopards living among farms and villages in western Maharashtra, this study quantified how big cats navigate a landscape saturated with people. Collared leopards were strongl…
Odden M, Athreya V, Rattan S, Linnell JDC · PLoS ONE · 2014
Big cats in our backyards: leopards persisting in a human-dominated Indian landscape
PaperThis influential study documented free-ranging leopards living at high density in the densely populated, intensively cultivated countryside of Maharashtra, India, far from any protected forest. Using…
Athreya V, Odden M, Linnell JDC, Krishnaswamy J, Karanth U · PLoS ONE · 2013
Leopards provide public health benefits by preying on free-ranging dogs in Mumbai
PaperThis study quantified an unexpected ecosystem service delivered by leopards inhabiting Sanjay Gandhi National Park inside greater Mumbai. By modelling leopard diet, in which feral and stray dogs form…
Braczkowski AR, OBryan CJ, Stringer MJ, Watson JEM, Possingham HP, Beyer HL · Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment · 2018
Research overview: GPS and biologging methods for urban felid behaviour
OverviewHigh-resolution GPS tracking combined with accelerometers and other biologgers has transformed the study of how felids behave near people, enabling fine-scale analysis of movement, activity, energetic…
Research overview: comparing wild felids across the worlds cities
OverviewFrom leopards in Mumbai to pumas in Los Angeles, caracals in Cape Town and fishing cats in Colombo, a remarkable diversity of felids inhabits the worlds cities, offering a comparative window on urban…
Research overview: cultural tolerance and coexistence with leopards in India
OverviewLong-term coexistence between people and leopards in human-dominated India rests partly on social, cultural and religious dimensions that shape tolerance. This overview surveys social-science research…
Research overview: diet of urban-adjacent leopards and reliance on domestic prey
OverviewStudies of leopard diet around Mumbai and across rural Maharashtra consistently find heavy reliance on domestic animals, particularly free-ranging dogs, alongside livestock, feral pigs, rodents and sm…
Research overview: edge effects shaping felid habitat in fragmented cities
OverviewHabitat edges created by urban development alter microclimate, vegetation, prey, disturbance and predator interactions, shaping how felids use the boundary between natural and built land. This overvie…
Research overview: felids in Asian tea and coffee plantation landscapes
OverviewTea, coffee and rubber plantations across South and Southeast Asia form extensive human-modified habitats used by leopards, leopard cats, jungle cats and fishing cats with varying tolerance. This over…
Research overview: leopard density inside Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mumbai
OverviewSanjay Gandhi National Park is a roughly hundred-square-kilometre forest island embedded within metropolitan Mumbai, hosting one of the highest known leopard densities recorded near a megacity. This o…
Research overview: leopards as residents of Indian agricultural mosaics
OverviewAcross India, leopards occupy a continuum from forest reserves to intensively farmed countryside, with sugarcane, tea and other tall-crop landscapes functioning as year-round habitat. This overview sy…
Research overview: managing the protected-area and urban interface for felids
OverviewMany urban felid populations centre on protected areas embedded in or abutting cities, from Sanjay Gandhi National Park to Griffith Park and Table Mountain National Park, making the park-city interfac…
Research overview: media framing and public perception of urban felids
OverviewHow urban felids are portrayed in media and perceived by the public strongly influences tolerance, policy and conservation outcomes. This overview synthesises social-science research on news framing o…
Research overview: nocturnal shift and temporal avoidance in human-adjacent leopards
OverviewLeopards sharing space with dense human populations frequently become more strictly nocturnal, compressing their activity into the hours when people are least active. This overview surveys telemetry a…
Research overview: patterns and drivers of leopard attacks on people near Indian cities
OverviewLeopard attacks on humans, though rare relative to encounter frequency, shape public perception and policy across urban-adjacent India. This overview surveys research on the spatial and temporal clust…
Research overview: stray dogs as an anthropogenic prey subsidy for urban leopards
OverviewIn and around many South Asian cities, free-ranging and stray dogs constitute a major prey base that sustains leopards at densities unattainable on wild prey alone. This overview synthesises diet and…
Translocation as a conflict tool can backfire for leopards in human landscapes
PaperAnalyzing records of leopards captured and released far from capture sites across India, this study challenged translocation as a standard response to conflict. Translocated leopards frequently attemp…
Athreya V, Odden M, Linnell JDC, Karanth KU · Conservation Biology · 2011