Leopard tracking guide

Guide for distinguishing leopard signs from those of other co‐existing large carnivores for Asia Minor and the Caucasus By Erwin van Maanen Anatolian Leopard Foundation (version 221208) General ‐ felids versus canids Felids • Are predominantly solitary, except when mating and with offspring. • Capable climbers; stretch against trees; may leave scratch marks. • Alternating gait; zigzag pattern (left‐right‐left‐right) when walking normally. Walk about the landscape; sidetrack to investigate, ambush or chase prey. • Rounded but asymmetric (especially hind foot) pugmarks with a metacarpal pad or heel pad that has a trilobate posterior edge (three lobes or double indentation) and is often distinctly bilobate on the leading edge of metacarpal, particularly on the hind paw. Lynx tracks are most rounded and leopard tracks tend to be the most asymmetric (see track scheme below). The toes may be considerably flexed, for instance in a leap or when walking on a slope. The width (W) of cat tracks may therefore vary considerably because of splaying, and length (L) may be distorted due to possible slippage. It is therefore best to take measure of the width of the metacarpal pad (M). Also take account of the substrate when measuring tracks (sand versus clay, compacted versus wet snow) as this can make all the difference in the quality of the track and its possible distortion. • Four toe pads (also called digital pads), which tend to be oval to droplet‐shaped. • Impression of sharp nails is usually absent; exception can be a leopard in snow and when cats leap or flex their toes momentarily. Nails may also show in fast running mode. • Scat usually compact, sausage‐like, segmented, blunt as well as tapered. Usually devoid of large bone fragments. Typical cat‐like or metallic smell. • Prey killed by suffocating or vertebrae‐severing bite respectively to the throat or back of the neck/base of skull. Mid‐sized cats often start feeding from the lower abdominal of large (ungulate or rodent) prey. Large cats tear locally at their freshly killed prey. Prey may be cached . • Pungent olfactory and urine markings on scrapes, tussocks, certain bushes (spraying) and on rocks. Canids • Often more than one individual i.e. live socially in packs. • Do not climb. • Long distance walkers often in single file and purposefully (especially wolf); dogs often sniff about. 1 •
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Four toe pads and one heart‐shaped metacarpal pad or heel pad . The front two toes when walking straight on a flat surface are almost perfectly aligned and side‐by‐side. The outer toes tend to be triangular in shape and stand outward in running mode. The heel pad is only double lobed on the posterior edge and single‐lobed on the leading edge for front and hind paws (see track scheme below). Exception: pedigree dogs may show slight trilobate posterior edge on heel pad. Tracks more rigidly placed or placed with less flex than felids. Consistent impression of blunt nails close in front of toe pads. Oval‐shaped, elongate tracks (clearly longer than wide) with almost perfect symmetry in length and width. Scat may have similarities with that of leopard, but canid scat can differ more widely in texture, composition and colour, often containing a higher proportion of bone fragment which tends to give them a ‘chalky’ appearance when dried. They may also contain plant matter. Prey tens to be torn apart over a large area, particularly when a large pack is at work. After eating almost nothing remains, except for scattered hair, bone splinters and blood. Pug mark anatomy shown here for an adult leopard. Carpal pad of canids and felids is never shown in pugmarks. 2 Normal walking stride length is the length between the forepaw and hind paw. 3 Track scheme W for (scale: trrack width, W
leopard = 9,5 cm) 4 Wolf Canis lupus Examples of wolf (Canis lupus) tracks. Left panel, also contains badger tracks on the right(Vashlovani Reserve, Georgia: Erwin van Maanen), top right panel (Brasov, Romania: Erwin van Maanen). 5 Wolves in packs often rip their prey apart, splinter bone, make a ravage,s and may leave nothing but scattered blood and blood splinters on a fresh kill. Top photo from Rezendes 1999). Bottom photo by ICAS (Romania). 6 Leopard
d versus the
e other largge cats Tracks The tracks of leopard
d and lynx caan be very similar in shap
pe, especiallyy hind foot, b
but the lynx and caracal ttracks are alw
ways smallerr, the latter b
being the sm
mallest. There are distinct features in the tracks off these species in the spaacing betweeen metacarpal pad , amo
ount of symm
metry and am
mount of impressiion of the toes (see trackk scheme). Female ttracks are more compactt (less spacin
ng between ttoes and mettacarpal pad
d) than those
e of males. TThe tracks of immature animals often
n smaller than those of ad
dults; young animals ofte
en accompaanied by fem
male parent (bigger trackss). Table 1 ‐‐Range of th
he metacarpaal width (M, cm) of trackks of three laarge cat speccies. Species Female Imm
mature Adult Male Leopard 8‐10 6‐7 5.0 ‐‐7.0 Lynx 5‐6.5 4‐5 ‐ Caracal 3‐5 3‐4 ‐ Leopard Panthera pardus Kills •
•
•
•
•
Prey to the ssize of a small horse. C
Clear penetr
rating bite m
marks to the tthroat or necck. Fresh kill sho
ows tearing llocally at a p
part of the prrey, which may be the low
wer abdomin
nal, hindquarterss, back or breast. Legs caan be comple
etely torn offf . Prey often eaten in difficcult to accesss place, like o
on a steep sllope, rocky o
outcrop or in fallen t
tree. After se
everal visits little, but skiin and bone remains. Leoparrd kill (South Africa) of a sheeep with fron
nt leg compleetely torn offf at the shouldeer (Stuart & Stuart 2000).U
Unlike leoparrds in Africa, leopards in southw
west Asia do n
not have to hoist prey into trrees, as hostile dominant ca
arnivores like spo
otted hyena, tiger or lion aree absent. 7 When allowed revisiting their kill undisturbed, large cats leave very little remains, in this case a deer killed by a Puma in North America (Elbroch 2003). Leopard kill remains are very similar. Distinguishing track features See track scheme and table 1. Additional: Compared to lynx and caracal, larger and more asymmetrical tracks with large metacarpal pad that has pronounced double indentation (i.e. trilobate) on the posterior edge. There is very little space between the metacarpal pad and toe pads, particularly in comparison with caracal. The metacarpal width (M) is only a little smaller than the track width (W). Walking stride distance Walking stride distance is > 1m. 8 Male leopard tracks (Persian leopard P. p. saxicolor). Left panel is left front paw (LF) and right panel is left hind paw (LH). Vaschlovani State Reserve, Georgia (NACRES). Plaster cast of a leopard track. Vaschlovani State Reserve, Georgia (NACRES). 9 Leopard tracks in the snow, northern Iran (Plan4Land ) Leopard track(LF) in mud Gilan, Iran (Plan4Land) 10 Leopard tracks with two hand paws (left and right) coming together as the animal goes into trod or run (Armenia, Igor Khorozyan). Leopard track (RF) on a sandy trail, Bamu, Iran (Plan4Land). 11 Leopard tracks, India (source unknown) Scat •
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A piling of multiple segmented (2‐3 cm thick)droppings, often breaking into many parts. Ends usually blunt but may be tapered with coarse hairs or bristles sticking out (mix‐up with wolf is possible). Often with fragments of bone and/or hoof and/or coarse hairs/bristles sticking out (particularly with large ungulate prey like wild boar and bezoar goat). Color varies according to content; white (calcium from bone fragments) to dark. May contain undigested vegetable matter. smell cat‐like (metallic smell). Often deposited on animal and human trails or on scrapes. 12 Scrapes According to Victor Lukarevsky the most reliable predictor of the leopard are fairly deep scrapes on the ground – often linear, long and oval (ca. 20 cm x 60 cm) – with a pile of dirt behind it. They tend to be found on ridges and canyon floors. They are long‐lived signs indicating adult animals marking their territory and signaling for mates. Often leopard urinate or drop feces on the scrapes or a nearby hummock of grass, indicated by a strong smell typical of cats. Note that leopard scrapes can be few in a low density population (e.g. Caucasus, Turkey), and may then only be made seasonally. In places where leopard density is relatively high (e.g. Iran) and inter‐animal competition for space and resources is high, scrapes are produced year‐round around the territory to advertise land tenure. Leopard scrape (lower right) on ridge top in Bamu Reserve, Iran (Plan4Land) Behavioral aspects Leopards have large territories and as such walk long trails of more than 10 km a night. Thus they are quite resolute in their direction and visit areas where prey can be likely encountered. Side tracking is probably a lot less than that of lynx and caracal. They may temporarily rest on elevated places with a command view. 13 Leopard scrape with leopard scat, Armenia (Caucasus, Igor Khorozyan). Note that wolf scat may have similar appearance. Another example of leopard scat showing piling of segments filled with coarse hairs (Iran, Plan4Land). 14 Lynx Lyn
nx lynx Kills w deer. • Prey to the ssize of fallow
o the throat,, neck or basse of skull. • Bite marks to
d ungulate prey usually eeaten by starrting at the in
nside of the lower abdom
men and • Freshly killed
hind‐quarterrs. om • Prey (caching) wholly or partly coverred with lightt debris (e.g.. leaves, stickks, snow) fro
a
around the k
kill. • Bones are haardly broken
n by lynx, largge bones are
e kept intact.. Like all larg
ge cats, lynx kkill their preyy with a suffo
ocation bite to the tthroat, or lesss commonlyy by neck breeakage. From Promberger‐Fürpa
aß & Ionescu
u (2000). begin Lynx, as well as caracal, usually b
feeding o
on at fresh u
ungulate kill a
at the soft abdomin
nal area (Ban
ng & Dahlstrrøm 2001). 15 Distinguishing track ffeatures See track scheme an
nd table 1. Ad
dditional: compared to le
eopard and ccaracal, moree hair on the
e soles of lynx obscure the imp
pression of th
heir toes, maaking the toe
e pads appeaar smaller, esspecially durring winter. Lynx often ccache their p
prey by burying it p
partly with deebris, tolater com
me back and ffeed again severral times at lleisure (Rezendes 1
1999). de of front pa
aws of (left tto right) cara
acal, lynx and
d leopard sho
owing in parrticular the fu
urry Undersid
(winter) soles of the lynx, produccing ‘diffused
d’ tracks as compared to the clear imp
pressions of caracal and leop
pard. As such
h the lynx aree better adap
pted to walking on snow than the oth
her two cats (Rezendees 1999; Stua
art & Stuart 2000). Walking stride distan
nce Walking Stride distan
nce lynx of th
he lynx is aro
ound 80 cm. 16 ow. Top left iis a Tracks off Eurasian lyynx in the sno
clear LH,, left is typica
al zigzag patttern during n
normal walking, and bottom
m is a chase u
upon intercep
ption with a ha
are (Bang & Dahlstrøm 2
2001; Matjusschkin 1978). 17 Lynx track in the mud. Note that hardly an impression is left due to the furry soles of the lynx (Rezendes 1999). Scat • Tightly knit • Segmented into 2‐4 parts. • Ends usually blunt but may be tapered. • Full of hair (fine hair from mice or hare/rabbit) and relatively little bone. • Large bone fragments usually absent. • color is light grey to black. • Smell cat‐like (metallic smell). • Lynx almost always bury their feces where possible (soft ground). Scrapes Lynx make scrapes only on occasion, again depending on density. Lynx scrapes are either rectangular or fan‐shaped. Cat feces are usually compact, segmented, grey‐dark in color, blunt or tapered, and may contain fine undigested animal material like hair and feathers. These feces are from a bobcat, comparable to the feces of lynx and caracal (Rezendes 1999). 18 Behavioral aspects Lynx prefer forested areas and move more erratic along their course than leopard, always on the ready to sidetrack and follow prey, and investigating, for example, between rocks and under falling trees, also walking over logs to ambush flushed prey. In winter they can be found in areas with deep snow, generally avoided by leopard and caracal. Caracal Caracal caracal Kills • May take prey up to size of young goat. • Bite marks to the throat, neck or base of skull. • Freshly killed ungulate prey usually eaten by typically starting at the inside of lower abdomen. • Bones are hardly broken by caracal, large bones are kept intact. Distinguishing track features See track scheme and table 1. Additional: small metacarpal pad relative to the toes. Tracks of front paw are highly asymmetrical, with outer toe considerably reduced in size, and falling out of place, compared to other three toes. Metacarpal pad on hind paw is trilobate on the posterior edge and markedly bilobate on the leading edge. Note also the considerable amount of inter‐pad space, compared to lynx and leopard. Track of caracal (LF), Taurus Mountains, Turkey. Note the asymmetry and the falling out of place of the outer toe on the left. Taurus Mountains, Turkey (Leo Goudzwaard). Scat • Tightly knit. • Segmented into 2‐4 parts. • Ends usually blunt but may be tapered. • Full of hair (fine hair from mice or rabbit or with feather remains) and relatively little bone. • Large bone fragments usually absent. • Color is light grey to black. • Smell cat‐like (metallic smell). • Caracals do not bury their feces. 19 Scrapes Caracals do not buryy their feces ,, but depositt them on scrapes, which
h may be mo
ore or less fre
equently found deepending on population density. Walking stride distan
nce Caracals are long‐leggged for a cat, hence their walking stride distancee is great: 60
0‐80 cm. Although the caracal iss smaller than the Caucassian hunter to subspecies of the lynx ((L. l. dinniki), and a bird h
nd does occa
asionally takee a high degrree, it can an
relatively la
arge prey, likke young goa
ats and deer (Stuart & Stuart 20
000). Caracal scat (Stuart & SStuart 2000). 20 Behavioral aspects The caracal tend to inhabit open landscape (desert and grassland) and edge habitats (oases,shrubs) within. Caracal move more erratic along their course than leopard, always on the ready to sidetrack and follow game, and investigating the edges of grassland and forest to flush prey, like birds. Other larger carnivores Other larger carnivores (larger than a fox) which may be encountered are brown bear (Ursus arctos), dog (Canis lupus familiaris), jackal (Canis aureus syriacus) and striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena). As the striped hyena is of high conservation interest and dogs may add confusion, a short description of their tracks is given below. Striped hyena Hyaena hyaena Striped hyena are largely solitary animals that roam over large areas in search of prey and dead animals. They are usually found in arid terrain, including mountains and semi‐desert. Although very rare, they may be encountered in southern/south‐eastern Turkey (also eastern Georgia). Hyenas have unmistakable irregular tracks. Striped hyena (left) and stylized tracks of a brown hyena(Stuart & Stuart 2000), a close relative of the striped hyena. Note the high irregularity of the pug marks, with very little inter‐pad spacing (clumped pads). 21 Clumpy foot pad(top) and RH pug mark (bottom)of a striped hyena in Iran(Arash Ghoddousi , Plan4Land). Scat of a Brown hyena. Hyena’s make use of latrines where they may deposit feces on a regular basis. Scats are usually cream‐colored (fresh) to completely white (dried) due to the high calcium content. 22 Dog Canis lupus familiaris Dog tracks may lead to confusion and mix‐up. Certainly dog tracks can be mistaken for wolf and even leopard. As a general rule, dogs usually roam in and around human habitations. However, in rural Asia Minor and the Caucasus there may be many exceptions to this rule. Large shepherd dogs and feral dogs frequent the mountains of Asia Minor and the Caucasus, wherever there is sheep or goat herding. They often move considerable distance away from flocks and their tracks are easily mistaken for wolf. Taurus Mountains, Turkey (Leo Goudzwaard). Dog versus wolf Dog tracks can vary considerably in size and symmetry according to breed. Light impressions may be mistaken for large cat tracks. Distinction between a wolf and a large (shepherd) dog can be very difficult, if not impossible. In fact there are no hard rules as the examples of dog tracks below show in comparison with the wolf tracks above. Only the tracks of some pedigree dogs like a Labrador (Stuart & Stuart 2000)may be distinctly different by being more compact (less inter‐pad spacing) and less symmetrical. 23 Dog tracks (K. Cabrera): compare with wolf and Labrador. Dog scat (K. Cabrera) Distinguishing can be the mode of movement. Wolves in a pack moving large distances in the landscape usually walk resolutely and fast in single file, with each wolf stepping almost precisely in the tracks of the wolf in front. Dogs tend to be much more disbanded and often walk the landscape 24 with less caution and sniffing about. During winter the likelihood of dogs roaming wide in the mountains is much less than in summer. Acknowledgements The making of this guide was made in part possible thanks to contributions of Igor Khorozyan, Arash Ghoddousi (Plan4Land) and NACRES. References Bang, P. & P. Dahlstrøm 2001. Animal tracks and signs. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Elbroch, M. 2003. Mammal tracks & sign. Stackpole books, Mechanicsburg. Matjuschkin 1978. Der Luchs. Die Neu Brehm Bucherei. A. Ziemsen Verlag, Wittenberg Lutherstadt. Promberger‐Fürpaß, B. & O. Ionescu 2000. Râsul. Biologie, ecologie şi management. Romanian Wildlife Series. HACO International. Rezendes, P. 1999. Tracking and the art of seeing. How to read animal tracks and sign. Firefly Books, Ontario. Stuart, C. & T. Stuart 2000. Tracks and signs of Southern and East African Wildlife. Stuik Publishers, Cape Town. Sunquist, M. & F. Sunquist 2002. Wild cats of the World. The University of Chicago Press, London. 25