Leopard cats killed on roads, chronically poisoned over the long term by highly toxic pesticides, insecticides and rodenticides
The "leopard cat" (Prionailurus bengalensis), an endangered wild felid in the country, faces not only roadkill but also chronic poisoning! Leopard cat habitat lies in the low-elevation hills, overlapping with areas of human activity. Research by National Taiwan University and National Pingtung University of Science and Technology indicates that long-term exposure to pesticide-laden environments raises the health risks to leopard cats. In tests on road-killed leopard cat carcasses, rodenticides were detected in every liver, while the stomachs tested positive for the highly toxic pesticide carbofuran and for chlorpyrifos, an insecticide used in extremely high volumes domestically.
Pei Chia-chi, a professor at the Institute of Wildlife Conservation at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, says the leopard cat is an apex predator, and pesticides accumulate level by level through the food chain via biomagnification. Although there is no direct evidence yet, all the signs strongly suggest that pesticides are making leopard cats ill and raising the probability of roadkill.
Fan Chih-hao, a professor in the Department of Bioenvironmental Systems Engineering at National Taiwan University, tested 79 soil samples across the townships of Miaoli and detected 67 pesticides in total. Comparing these with leopard cat roadkill locations, he found that the pesticide risk index near roadkill sites was indeed relatively high, with Zhuolan and Yuanli the highest.
Endangered leopard cats face habitat fragmentation and chronic pesticide poisoning
Taiwan has only 2 species of wild felids: one is the Formosan clouded leopard, presumed extinct, and the other is the critically endangered leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis). The leopard cat is often called the "wildcat"; it is about the size of a domestic cat. Existing research data show that leopard cats mainly inhabit low-elevation hill areas below 1500 m, and traces of them have been found in Miaoli, Taichung, Changhua, Nantou and even Tainan.
Fewer than five hundred leopard cats remain across Taiwan, and the survival threats they face are closely tied to human activity. The main areas of human activity overlap with leopard cat habitat; the construction of projects or venues causes habitat fragmentation and degradation, and road development also slices habitats apart, so news of leopard cats being struck and killed by vehicles as they move about is commonplace. Beyond this, leopard cats face another major threat: pesticides and environmental chemicals.
From 2015 to 2016, the Institute of Wildlife Conservation at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology conducted necropsies on 6 road-killed leopard cat carcasses. Professor Pei Chia-chi of the institute explains that rodenticides were detected in all the livers, and pesticides were also detected in the stomachs of some carcasses. "The effects of rodenticides are long-lasting, while pesticides are short-acting and break down quickly; detecting pesticides means the leopard cat was exposed to a high-risk environment over the long term."
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