Diets of carnivores provide insights into predator-prey relationship and intra-guild competition, and contribute to drafting fruitful conservation strategies. However, few high-resolution dietary dataset of carnivores exist in Central Asia, hindering deep understanding of their coexistence in grazing landscape. Here, we present detailed trophic interaction among four carnivores in Tianshan Mountains of Northwest China deriving from 179 fecal samples.

Using DNA metabarcoding, we identified 20 prey items across 5 orders. High dietary overlap (O_jk = 0.995) was found between snow leopard (Panthera uncia) and wolf (Canis lupus), which mainly preyed on large mammals (%PR = 85%, 91%). Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) mainly consumed large and small mammals (%PR = 43%, 31%). Significant differences (P<0.001, P<0.05) and lower dietary overlaps (O_jk = 0.761, 0.756) were observed between red fox and snow leopard/wolf.

Wild animals such as ibex (Capra sibirica) were detected in the diet of dog (Canis lupus familiaris), indicating wildlife depredation. High dietary overlaps were observed between dog and snow leopard/wolf (O_jk = 0.989, 0.999). These results suggest that dog compete with wild predators for prey resources and underline the need to further study their potential disturbance to natural ecosystems. All carnivores consumed livestock (%PR = 14 ~ 27%). Corrals reinforcement and husbandry practice improvement are necessary to prevent potential economic losses and retaliatory killing.

Our results suggest that dietary partitioning and livestock subsidies facilitate carnivore coexistence in Tianshan and have implications for developing effective conservation intervention to promote human-carnivore coexistence in Central Asia.