Competitive interactions between spotted hyenas and lions in the Etosha National Park, Namibia

Trinkel, Martina; Kastberger, Gerald

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2028.2005.00574.x

Cited by 60 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…This implies that lion foraging group size should have an impact on hyaenas. In Etosha NP, where hyaenas were scattered over large territories, they were unable to steal kills from lions and to defend their own kills (Trinkel & Kastberger, 2005). Cooper (1991) showed that to take over a kill, hyaenas had to outnumber lions by a factor of 4.…”

Section: (2) Kleptoparasitismmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Lion King and the Hyaena Queen: large carnivore interactions and coexistence

2014

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Interactions among species, which range from competition to facilitation, have profound effects on ecosystem functioning. Large carnivores are of particular importance in shaping community structure since they are at the top of the food chain, and many efforts are made to conserve such keystone species. Despite this, the mechanisms of carnivore interactions are far from understood, yet they are key to enabling or hindering their coexistence and hence are highly relevant for their conservation. The goal of this review is thus to provide detailed information on the extents of competition and facilitation between large carnivores and their impact in shaping their life histories. Here, we use the example of spotted hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta) and lions (Panthera leo) and provide a comprehensive knowledge of their interactions based on meta-analyses from available literature (148 publications). Despite their strong potential for both exploitation and interference competition (range and diet overlap, intraguild predation and kleptoparasitism), we underline some mechanisms facilitating their coexistence (different prey-age selection and scavenging opportunities). We stress the fact that prey abundance is key to their coexistence and that hyaenas forming very large groups in rich ecosystems could have a negative impact on lions. We show that the coexistence of spotted hyaenas and lions is a complex balance between competition and facilitation, and that prey availability within the ecosystem determines which predator is dominant. However, there are still many gaps in our knowledge such as the spatio-temporal dynamics of their interactions. As both species' survival becomes increasingly dependent on protected areas, where their densities can be high, it is critical to understand their interactions to inform both reintroduction programs and protected area management.

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Section: (2) Kleptoparasitismmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Lion King and the Hyaena Queen: large carnivore interactions and coexistence

2014

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“…When hyenas where observed incidentally, the carcass and nearby tracks were investigated to determine whether hyenas were responsible for a kill (Kruuk 1972;Mills 1994). When hyenas and other predators, e.g., lions, were observed together at a kill, fresh blood covering heads and full stomachs were indicative of which species had killed (Trinkel and Kastberger 2005). While following hyenas, they were viewed with binoculars aided by a red-filtered spotlight, or with an infrared sensitive camera.…”

Section: Hyena Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prey selection and prey preferences of spotted hyenas Crocuta crocuta in the Etosha National Park, Namibia

Trinkel

2009

Ecological Research

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The feeding ecology of the spotted hyena Crocuta crocuta was studied in the central and eastern part of the Etosha National Park, Namibia. Hyenas mainly hunted migratory ungulates such as springbok Antidorcas marsupialis, zebra Equus burchelli, and blue wildebeest Connochaetes taurinus, but also resident species such as the greater kudu Tragelaphus strepsiceros and gemsbok Oryx gazella. There were, however, major differences in the species most frequently killed by hyenas in central and eastern Etosha. The preferred prey species of spotted hyenas in central Etosha was springbok, whereas regarding the abundance of zebra and wildebeest, these two species were rather avoided. In contrast, the prey species preferred by hyenas in eastern Etosha was kudu. Zebra and gemsbok were taken in proportion to their abundance, whereas wildebeest and springbok seemed to be rather avoided. Differences in prey selection and preferences were also reflected in differences in hunting group sizes. In eastern Etosha, where spotted hyenas frequently hunted larger prey, hunting group sizes were significantly larger compared to those in the center of the park.

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“…During times of high prey density, multiple top predator species might have used areas of highly aggregated prey and thus increased encounter rates with cheetahs. In addition, lions occasionally kill and compete with leopards and hyaenas (Balme, Miller, Pitman, & Hunter, ; Trinkel & Kastberger, ), and leopards, similar to cheetahs, have been found to use fine‐scale spatial partitioning to avoid interactions with lions (du Preez, Hart, Loveridge, & Macdonald, ; Vanak et al, ). Therefore, when lion densities were low and prey densities were high, leopard and hyaenas might have used areas typically used by lions and imposed top‐down effects on cheetahs, either through direct interactions or through exploitative competition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Context dependency of top‐down, bottom‐up and density‐dependent influences on cheetah demography

Gigliotti

Slotow

Hunter

et al. 2019

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Research on drivers of demographic rates has mostly focused on top predators and their prey, and comparatively less research has considered the drivers of mesopredator demography. Of those limited studies, most focused on top‐down effects of apex predators on mesopredator population dynamics, whereas studies investigating alternative mechanisms are less common. In this study, we tested hypotheses related to top‐down, bottom‐up and density‐dependent regulation of demographic rates in an imperilled mesopredator, the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus). We used a 25‐year dataset of lion density, cheetah density and prey density from the Mun‐Ya‐Wana Conservancy in South Africa and assessed the effects of top‐down, bottom‐up and density‐dependent drivers on cheetah survival and reproduction. In contrast to the top‐down and bottom‐up predictions, both adult and juvenile cheetahs experienced the lowest survival during months with high prey densities and low lion densities. We observed support only for a density‐dependent response in juvenile cheetahs, where they had a higher probability of reaching independence during times with low cheetah density and low prey density. We did not identify any strong drivers of litter size. Collectively, our results indicate that high apex predator abundance might not always have negative effects on mesopredator populations, and suggest that context dependency in top‐down, bottom‐up and density‐dependent factors may regulate demographic rates of cheetahs and other mesopredators. Our results highlight the complexities of population‐level drivers of cheetah demographic rates and the importance of considering multiple hypotheses of mesopredator population regulation.

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Competitive interactions between spotted hyenas and lions in the Etosha National Park, Namibia

Cited by 60 publications

References 7 publications

The Lion King and the Hyaena Queen: large carnivore interactions and coexistence

The Lion King and the Hyaena Queen: large carnivore interactions and coexistence

Prey selection and prey preferences of spotted hyenas Crocuta crocuta in the Etosha National Park, Namibia

Context dependency of top‐down, bottom‐up and density‐dependent influences on cheetah demography

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