Abstract
We studied the effect of factors associated with land redevelopment on the home range of the Tsushima leopard cat, Prionailurus bengalensis euptilurus, in Tsushima Islands, Japan. We conducted radio-tracking surveys to investigate the home range and movement pattern of a cat and compared between the land redevelopment period (LDP) and the pre-LDP from January 2006 to May 2007. No significant differences were found in its home range size and core area size between the pre-LDP and the LDP. The distances from the cat’s locations to the land redevelopment area were larger during the LDP than during the pre-LDP both in the daytime and the nighttime. The cat did not cross the area but detoured to south of the study site during the LDP, while the cat crossed the land redevelopment area before the redevelopment activity had begun. We concluded that the cat avoided the land redevelopment area within its home range during the LDP. An area outside the pre-LDP home range was used as well during the LDP. The results of this study showed that the cat modi.ed its home range and its movement route in response to the environmental change caused by the land redevelopment. A careful assessment and consideration must precede the activities that would cause the landscape change.
