Large carnivores as potential predators of sun bears Authors: Naing, Hla, Htun, Saw, Kamler, Jan F., Burnham, Dawn, and Macdonald, David W. Source: Ursus, 2019(30e4) : 51-57 Published By: International Association for Bear Research and Management URL: https://doi.org/10.2192/URSU-D-18-0022.2 BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses. Your use of this PDF, the BioOne Complete website, and all posted and associated content indicates your acceptance of BioOne’s Terms of Use, available at www.bioone.org/terms-of-use. Usage of BioOne Complete content is strictly limited to personal, educational, and non - commercial use. Commercial inquiries or rights and permissions requests should be directed to the individual publisher as copyright holder. BioOne sees sustainable scholarly publishing as an inherently collaborative enterprise connecting authors, nonprofit publishers, academic institutions, research libraries, and research funders in the common goal of maximizing access to critical research. Downloaded From: https://bioone.org/journals/Ursus on 06 Mar 2020 Terms of Use: https://bioone.org/terms-of-use Access provided by International Association for Bear Research and Management SHORT COMMUNICATIONS Large carnivores as potential predators of sun bears Hla Naing1,SawHtun1, Jan F. Kamler2,3,4, little known about the ecology of sun bears. For example, Dawn Burnham2, and David W. Macdonald2 there have been only 3 studies that determined their move- ments and home ranges (Wong et al. 2004, Fredriksson 1Wildlife Conservation Society Myanmar, No. 12 2012, Cheah 2013). Even less is known about their natu- Narnattaw Road, Yangon, Myanmar ral predators. The only confirmed natural predator is the 2Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of reticulated python (Python reticulatus), which swallowed Zoology, University of Oxford, Recanati-Kaplan Centre, an adult female sun bear on Borneo (Fredriksson 2005). Tubney House, Abingdon Road, Tubney, Abingdon Tigers (Panthera tigris) are assumed to be predators of OX13 5QL, UK 3 sun bears because of the presence of sun bear hairs in Panthera, 8 West 40th Street, 18th Floor, New York, NY 3 tiger scats in Malaysia (Kawanishi and Sunquist 2004). 10018, USA We describe here the probable predation on a sun bear cub by a leopard (Panthera pardus) in Myanmar. To better Abstract: Helarctos malayanus Sun bears ( )haveawide elucidate probable predation on sun bears by large carni- distribution in Southeast Asia, but little is known about vores, we conducted a literature review of dietary studies their natural predators. During a camera-trap survey in in Southeast Asia of the 3 apex large carnivores occurring 2018 in Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary, Myanmar, we in the region: tigers, leopards, and dholes (Cuon alpinus). Panthera pardus photographed a male leopard ( ) carrying We also reviewed other dietary studies outside of South- a sun bear cub by the throat. This is the first reported east Asia to determine if these large carnivores killed or case of probable predation on sun bears by leopards, consumed other bear species in Asia. Our results increase and only their second confirmed predator. A literature re- the knowledge about potential predators of sun bears in view showed that consumption of sun bears and Asiatic Southeast Asia, and help determine if predation by large Ursus thibetanus P. tigris black bears ( ) by tigers ( )was carnivores could affect their ecology. widespread in Southeast Asia, whereas consumption of both bear species by leopards and dholes (Cuon alpinus) was less common. Outside of Southeast Asia, tigers and leopards, but not dholes, were shown to kill or consume Methods other bear species. Future research should examine inter- We conducted long-term camera-trap surveys (Dec specific relationships between sun bears and large felids 2014 to Mar 2018) focusing on the felid community in 2 to better understand what, if any, impacts large felids have Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary (2,151 km ), northwestern on sun bear ecology. Myanmar (Naing et al. 2018). The habitat of the sanctu- ary is dominated by tropical evergreen forests, with some Key words: Helarctos malayanus, leopard, Myanmar, mixed deciduous forests in the western part and some Panthera pardus, Panthera tigris, predation, Southeast dry mixed deciduous forests in the eastern part. Seven Asia, sun bear, tiger streams flow in parallel from the eastern and northeast- DOI: 10.2192/URSU-D-18-0022.2 ern hills to the western and southwestern part of the sanc- Ursus 30:article e4 (2019) tuary (Naing et al. 2018). The sanctuary contains Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), gaur (Bos frontalis gaurus), wild boar (Sus scrofa), northern red muntjac (Muntiacus The sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) historically oc- vaginalis), sambar (Rusa unicolor), and Chinese serow curred throughout mainland Southeast Asia, Sumatra, (Capricornis milneedwardsii). Felids and other large car- and Borneo. However, distributions have contracted con- nivores include Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus), sun siderably during the past 30 years, especially on mainland bear, tiger, leopard, dhole, clouded leopard (Neofelis neb- Southeast Asia, and consequently the species is classified ulosa), golden cat (Catopuma temminckii), marbled cat as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation (Pardofelis marmorata), and leopard cat (Prionailurus of Nature (Scotson et al. 2017). Despite their threatened bengalensis). status and widespread distribution, there is still relatively Each year during the study, we placed 80 camera sta- tions in a grid, with 1.0–1.5 km between stations, and ran them from December to March, which corresponds 4 email: [email protected] to the dry season. At each station, we placed cameras in 51 Downloaded From: https://bioone.org/journals/Ursus on 06 Mar 2020 Terms of Use: https://bioone.org/terms-of-use Access provided by International Association for Bear Research and Management 52 SHORT COMMUNICATIONS pairs approximately 3.5 m from each side of the trail, and (Table 1). Leopards consumed Asiatic black bears in 1 of at approximately 45 cm height from ground level. We 4 sites where their diet was studied, and bears comprised used 2 models of camera traps—Cuddeback (Non Typ- <1% of their diet when consumption occurred (Table 1). ical, Inc., De Pere, Wisconsin, USA) and ScoutGuard Dholes consumed Asiatic black bears in 1 of 5 sites where (HCO Outdoor Products, Norcross, Georgia, USA). their diet was studied, and bears comprised <1% of their We conducted a literature review of dietary studies in diet when consumption occurred (Table 1). Southeast Asia of the 3 apex large carnivores occurring In areas outside of Southeast Asia, tigers were shown to in the region: tigers, leopards, and dholes. We searched consume brown bears (Ursus arctos)inRussia(Miquelle Google Scholar (Google LLC, Mountain View, Califor- et al. 1996, Seryodkin et al. 2018), Asiatic black bears nia, USA) for publications from 1980 to 2018 for dietary in Russia (Miquelle et al. 1996; Seryodkin et al. 2003, studies of tigers, leopards, and dholes, using the search 2018) and northeastern China (Yanget al. 2018), and sloth terms “Panthera tigris,”“Panthera pardus,” and “Cuon bears (Melursus ursinus) in India (Schaller 1967, Biswas alpinus,” in combination with “diet,” “food habits,” “pre- and Sankar 2002, Reddy et al. 2004, Ramesh et al. 2012, dation,” “Helarctos malayanus,” and “Ursus thibetanus.” Kolipaka et al. 2017) and Nepal (Kapfer et al. 2011). We limited the dietary studies to those that occurred Leopards were shown to kill or consume Asiatic black within the current distribution of sun bears in Southeast bears in Russia (Salmanova et al. 2013), giant pandas Asia as shown by Scotson et al. (2017; Fig. 1). We also (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) in China (Schaller et al. 1985), included the Asiatic black bear in our search because if and sloth bears in Sri Lanka (Kurt and Jayasuriya 1968). the 3 apex carnivores were found to consume this bear Dholes were not found to consume bears in any studies species in Southeast Asia, then they would likely con- outside of Southeast Asia. sume the sympatric sun bear as well. We then searched the Literature Cited of the papers we collected to find additional dietary studies on these species in the region. Discussion Additionally, we included unpublished data from one of We provided the first record of probable predation on our authors (JFK) about a recent study of the dhole diet sun bears by leopards, which is only the second con- in Cambodia. Finally, we also reviewed >100 additional firmed natural predator of sun bears, in addition to reticu- dietary studies of tigers, leopards, and dholes outside of lated pythons. Leopards are adaptable and opportunistic Southeast Asia to determine whether they killed or con- predators, and prey size ranges from insects to young ele- sumed other bear species in Asia. phants (Loxodonta spp.; Hayward et al. 2006). In South- east Asia, leopards typically prey on ungulates and pri- mates, although smaller carnivore species are often con- Results sumed (Rabinowitz 1989, Grassman 1999, Rostro-García During the camera-trap survey in Htamanthi Wildlife et al. 2018). In fact, smaller carnivores comprised 46% Sanctuary from December 2017 to March 2018, we ob- of the leopard diet in western Thailand (Grassman 1999). tained a photograph (24 Feb 2018; 1138 hr; ScoutGuard Thus, it is not surprising that a leopard probably preyed on camera) of an adult male leopard carrying a sun bear cub a sun bear cub in Myanmar, especially given that leopards by the throat (Fig. 2). It is not clear whether the cub was in other regions were shown to kill or consume larger bear dead or alive. A pair of canine puncture holes is visible species. Nonetheless, leopards were found to consume on the cub’s throat (Fig. 2), which likely represents the bears in only 1 of 4 sites in Southeast Asia where their kill bite.