Study
Prey selection by tiger, leopard and dhole in tropical forests
Karanth, K. U.; Sunquist, M. E.
Journal of Animal Ecology, 1995
Kills and scats from three co-occurring predators were identified to prey species over several years in the same forest, and compared against independently measured prey abundance to distinguish preference from availability.
- Studied in
- Panthera tigris, Panthera pardus, Cuon alpinus
- Sample size
- predator kills and scats identified in Nagarahole
Tigers select substantially larger prey than either leopard or dhole, taking a disproportionate share of the largest ungulates available and largely leaving the smaller species to the other two. The three predators partition prey by body size rather than by area, which is how they coexist in one forest at all.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Prey size selection is the mechanism allowing tiger, leopard and dhole to occupy the same forest, with tigers specialising on the largest ungulates.
How NatureHQ reads it
Measuring preference against measured availability is what makes this worth citing rather than a kill list. It also produces the number that governs tiger conservation: a tiger needs large ungulates, so the density of tigers a forest can hold is set by how many large deer and pigs it holds, not by its area.
- Kill and scat sampling under-represents small prey, which digests completely.
- One forest with an unusually intact ungulate community.
- Preference is inferred from a ratio, which is sensitive to how prey abundance was estimated.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: Wiley journalsPublished in a Wiley journal.
This reference was resolved automatically against Crossref on 2026-08-11.
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