Maternal Habitat Use of Juniperus Excelsa Woodland by Pallas's Cat

Zoology and Ecology

ISSN: 2165-8005 (Print) 2165-8013 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tzec20

Maternal habitat use of Juniperus excelsa woodland by Pallas’s cat Otocolobus manul in Iran

Parham Dibadj, Behrouz Jafari, Farshad Nejat, Ali Turk Qashqaei & Steven Ross

To cite this article: Parham Dibadj, Behrouz Jafari, Farshad Nejat, Ali Turk Qashqaei & Steven Ross (2018): Maternal habitat use of Juniperusexcelsa woodland by Pallas’s cat Otocolobusmanul in Iran, Zoology and Ecology, DOI: 10.1080/21658005.2018.1520722 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/21658005.2018.1520722

Published online: 17 Sep 2018.

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SHORT COMMUNICATION Maternal habitat use of Juniperus excelsa woodland by Pallas’s cat Otocolobus manul in Iran

Parham Dibadja, Behrouz Jafarib, Farshad Nejatc, Ali Turk Qashqaei a and Steven Ross d

aEcho of Persia wildlife, Tehran, Iran; bDepartment of the Environment, North Khorasan Provincial Oﬃce, Bojnord, Iran; cDepartment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management, Environmental Sciences Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, G.C. Evin, Tehran, Iran; dOﬃce for Conservation of the Environment, Diwan of Royal Court, Muscat, Oman

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY Pallas’s cat is a rare felid that has a wide but patchy distribution across Eurasia’s cold steppes. Received 11 September 2017 The species is known to prefer rocky, mountain and shrub steppe habitats, and strongly Accepted 5 September 2018 selects habitats with good cover from sympatric predators, particularly when raising young. KEYWORDS ﬁ This is the rst report of the species using Juniperus excelsa woodland habitat for foraging and Breeding den; habitat use; breeding in Iran. We observed the use of two aged juniper tree cavities as breeding dens for a Iran; Manul; woodland litter of four kittens. The record extends our capacity to assess the range of habitats that are used and suitable for Pallas’s cat populations.

The Pallas’s cat or manul, Otocolobus manul Pallas, been suggested that the availability of suitable cavities 1776 is a rare, small sized felid of 3–5 kg with a wide may be a limiting factor on breeding success of the distribution stretching from western Iran to eastern species (Ross et al. 2010a). Mongolia (Nowell and Jackson 1996). Across its range In order to improve our ability to more fully under- it inhabits seasonally cold, arid steppe and semi-desert stand which habitat types may support Pallas’s cat, ecosystems (Ross et al. 2015; Heptner and Sludskii further observations of resource use in other parts of 1992). There have been few comprehensive studies of the species range are required. Here we present obser- Pallas’s cat in the wild, restricting our ability to assess vational data on Pallas’s cat in Iran. The observations and conserve the species, currently listed as Near took place in a habitat type not commonly associated Threatened by the IUCN, and by CITES Appendix II with Pallas’s cat. In addition, we present observational (Ross et al. 2015). Previous research has been limited data on den use and maternal behavior in this habitat to ecological studies in Mongolia (Ross 2009;Rossetal. type. In Iran, Pallas’s cat is very rarely sighted and is 2010a, 2010b; Ross, Munktsog, and Harris 2012), and believed to have a very low population density. The Kazakhstan and Russia (Barashkova and Smelansky species is listed by the Department of the Environment 2011;Barashkovaetal.2017, 2017;Barashkovaand as a ‘Protected Species’ (Farhadinia, Moqanaki, and Kirilyuk 2011; Kirilyuk and Barashkova 2011). As a result, Adibi 2016; Karami, Ghadirian, and Faizolahi 2016; we do not have a full appreciation of the type of Ziaie 2008). Most Pallas’s cat sighting records have habitat conditions that can support Pallas’s cat popula- come from the northern mountain region of the coun- tions across its range. try, but it has also been found in arid areas of south Much of Pallas’s cat ecology and its habitat selection and central Iran (Aghili et al. 2008; Chalani et al. 2008; patterns appear to be inﬂuenced by sympatric preda- Farhadinia, Moqanaki, and Adibi 2016; Joolaee et al. tion from raptors, terrestrial carnivores and domestic 2014). dogs. For example, in Mongolia predation pressure is Our study took place in Shirin Dareh (Sweet Valley), in believed to have resulted in strong selection of habi- North Khorasan Province, northeastern Iran (Figure 1). tats providing disruptive cover such as rocky terrain, The site is part of the Kopet-dag mountain range and mountain slopes, ravines and shrub steppe, over more within the Arnaveh watershed. The climate of the area is open habitats with higher prey densities (Ross et al. arid with an average annual precipitation of 350 mm 2010a, 2010b, 2012). They also sleep, rest and raise (200–500 mm), and average annual temperature ran- their young in cavities where they are safe from larger ging of 14°C (8–39°C) (Farashi and Shariati Najafabadi predators. As they are unable to dig, they depend on 2015). Data collection took place over 15 days from the burrows created by other animals such as the marmot 25th of April to 9th of May 2014. On the 18th of April (Marmota spp.), and those provided by natural features 2014, a local person reported a breeding den with four such as rock crevices (Heptner and Sludskii 1992). It has closed-eyed kittens in a tree cavity. We followed the

Published online 17 Sep 2018 2 P. DIBADJ ET AL.

Figure 1. The study area in North Khorasan Province of Iran. report up and found the den site in a hollowed trunk of an aged juniper tree Juniperus excelsa. Four open-eyed Pallas’s cat kittens were in the den (Figure 2), one female and three males. We immediately fixed three small handmade infrared camera traps to video record den activities 24 hours per day; one was fixed inside the den, one facing the entrance, and one monitoring the whole den site. The cameras were first set on the 25th of April and then moved and placed in the same manner at a second den site 610 m away on the 2nd May, after the female and kittens moved there. The 3 cameras were active for a total of 14 days. On reviewing the video files, we documented all exit and entry times and the suckling times of the kittens by the adult female. Vegetation density in the area was char- acterised using 20 × 20 m plots, 8 plots were in hillside habitat and 8 in valley habitat. The female and kittens occupied the first den for at least 15 days and the second den site for 8 days. Both breeding dens were in northwestern facing slopes and within cavities of old juniper tree trunks (Table 1)and both contained two entrances. Vegetation density at the sites on hillsides was 50–75 trees and shrubs/ha, the valleys below had higher tree and shrub density at 125–200/ha. Both dens were located on a slope of 15 Figure 2. A photograph of one of four Pallas’s cat kittens to 20 degrees, with surrounding slopes of ≥45 degrees. found inside a juniper trunk den. Habitats surrounding the den site, where the female foraged during the day over the study period, con- Juniperus excelsa woodland, with a spaced open struc- sisted of arid, undulating, alpine habitat at an altitude ture on slopes and higher density, sometimes closed of 1300–1520 m, with steep, rocky, calcareous slopes canopy, in ravines and pans with higher water avail- and a network of steep v-shaped ravines bisecting the ability. The understory was covered by shrubs and landscape. The dominant vegetation in the area was trees of species such as wild pear Pyrus sp. and maple ZOOLOGY AND ECOLOGY 3

Table 1. Den characteristics of Pallas’s cat in Shirin Dareh, NE Our study extends our understanding of habitat suit- Iran: coordinates (CO), elevation (EL), Distance to stream (DS), ability of Pallas’s cat, which is an important component of inner diameter of trunk (IDT), and number of used trails by landscape scale management and assessment for the female for each nest (NUT). species conservation. Iran plays host to vast areas of Den number CO EL (m) DS (m) IDT (cm) NUT Juniper woodland, which have experienced a large First den 37°50’N, 57°07’E 1409 20 36 3 Second den 37°50’N, 57°08’E 1518 100 54 3 decrease in area in the past 100 years from approximately 3,400,000 ha to 1,100,000 ha (Zare 2001). The habitat is under threat from overgrazing, firewood collection and Acer sp. Prey species available in the area included the forest fires. Conservation of juniper woodland is Afghan pika Ochotona rufescens, chukar partridge undoubtedly a regional priority, and management of Alectoris chukar and Caucasian agama Paralaudakia the habitat should also consider the structural resources ’ caucasia. Potential predators/competitors of Pallas s it provides such as deadwood, stumps and other cavities cat in the area included the Persian leopard Panthera that provide shelter and breeding habitat for Pallas’scats, pardus,redfoxVulpes vulpes,wolfCanis lupus and large and most likely many other avian an terrestrial species. raptors and owls including Eagle Owl Bubo bubo, golden eagle Aquila chrysaetus, and eastern imperial eagle A. heliaca. Disclosure statement Our study has provided a novel record of Pallas’scat using a woodland habitat for foraging and breeding, No potential conflict of interest was reported by the although previously Farhadinia, Moqanaki, and Adibi authors. (2016) and Roberts (1977)reportedPallas’s cat occupied stunted Juniperus spp. and Juniperus macropoda steppe ORCID in Iran and Baluchistan Province of Pakistan, respec- tively. The female had very consistent behavior during Ali Turk Qashqaei http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2537-5100 the study period, exiting the den daily around sunrise, Steven Ross http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6534-7484 between 5:02 and 5:39 am, and re-entering only once during the day at sunset, between 6:59 and 7:44 pm. Kitten grooming and suckling occurred immediately on References entering the den. Although Pallas’s cat does not strictly Aghili, A., R. Masoud, J. D. Murdoch, and D. P. Mallon. 2008. “First require water, both den sites were within 100 m of Record of Pallas’s Cat in Northwest Iran.” Cat News 49: 8–9. streams, and it may be that consumption of water Barashkova, A., and I. Smelansky. 2011. “Pallas’s Cat in the improves female fitness while lactating (Gittleman and Altai Republic, Russia.” Cat News 54: 4–7. 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