Abstract
We investigated indices of fat deposition in wild Tsushima leopard cats (Prionailurus bengalensis euptilurus) to establish a standard for assessing nutritional status. We used the external measurements of 101 Tsushima leopard cats captured for research purposes and those sheltered due to injury and other reasons between 1985 and 2007. These external measurements comprised body weight (BW), body length (BL), and hind foot length (HFL) measured at the Tsushima Wildlife Conservation Center. The bodies of each of the 24 deceased Tsushima leopard cats were evaluated for relative fat deposition based on the visible fat index and dorsal subcutaneous fat index (DSFI). Specimens were classified into the high fat deposit group and low fat deposit group using DSFI. Discriminant analysis was then performed on these two groups using the BW, BL, HFL, and body mass index of each specimen as independent variables. The analysis yielded the following discriminant function (P=0.047): Z=0.001(BW) - 0.014(BL) + 0.082(HFL) + 0.006(BMI) - 4.304. The discriminant function ratio was 83.3%. We suggest that this discriminant function enable the simple evaluation of body fat deposition in live Tsushima leopard cats for the assessment of their nutritional status.
