Dietary Pattern and Trophic Resource Partitioning Among Sympatric Mesocarnivores in Human-Dominated Semi-Arid Landscape, Madhya Pradesh

Understanding dietary patterns and trophic (food) resources partitioning among sympatric mesocarnivores is important for explaining species coexistence through niche differentiation and their roles in ecosystem functioning. We analyzed the feeding ecology and dietary overlap of the golden jackal (Canis aureus) and jungle cat (Felis chaus) using scat analysis in the Kuno–Chambal ravine landscape of central India. We collected a total of 117 scat samples (96 golden jackal, 21 jungle cat) between February 2024 and April 2025 and analyzed them using micro-histological methods to quantify prey composition, frequency of occurrence, and relative biomass. We identified twenty-three prey items from the golden jackal diet. The golden jackal exhibited a generalist feeding strategy characterized by extensive use of livestock carrion (FO > 90%), contributing ~80% of prey biomass, and supplemented by plant resources (FO > 60%) and small prey (FO ~ 40%). The jungle cat consumed sixteen prey items and showed a strong dietary association with small mammals, particularly rodents (FO > 95%) and black-naped hare, which together contributed ~80% of its biomass. Standardized niche breadth was higher for the jungle cat (0.60 ± 0.07) than the golden jackal (0.37 ± 0.03), with a non-significant dietary overlap (Pianka index = 0.45). The high diversity of rodents (n = 11) in the diet of both mesocarnivores suggested their ecological importance in regulating rodent populations and golden jackals, enhancing ecosystem cleaning through their scavenging activity.