Interactions between apex and mesopredators and their impacts on prey populations have been well documented, while the influence of apex predators such as lions on carrion availability and the subsequent impactsatlower trophic levels are not fully understood.Here we assess dietary overlap between two sympatric carnivores (brown hyaena, Parahyaena brunnea,and black-backed jackal, Canis mesomelas) in neighbouring reserves with and without apex predators (lions, Panthera leo,and wild dog, Lycaon pictus). We investigate whether apex predators facilitate niche partitioning between mesocarnivores by creating additional scavengingopportunities through predatoryactivity.Wefound that brown hyaena density was higher in the area with apex predators, while black-backed jackal density was higher in the area without apex predators. Black-backed jackal scats contained broadly similar dietary items at both sites, while large mammal remains occurred significantly more frequentlyinbrown hyaena scats collected inthe presenceofapex predators.Inthe absence of apex predators there wasamarkedly higher degree of overlap between brown hyaena and jackal diets, suggesting increased levels of inter-specific competition. Our results suggest that apex predators potentially reduce levels of inter-specific competition for food between mesocarnivores byproviding additional scavenging opportunities for specialist scavengers such as brown hyaena.
2Vulture restaurants are used worldwide as a conservation tool to provide threatened vultures 23 with a source of supplementary carrion free from anthropogenic contaminants such as poisons 24 and veterinary drugs. While the impacts of supplementary feeding sites on ecosystem and 25 scavenging community dynamics have been investigated in Europe, no information is currently 26 available for southern Africa. This study presents evidence that providing supplementary 27 carrion for vultures stimulated an increase in local abundance of two species of mammalian 28 carnivores, the brown hyaena (Hyaena brunnea) and the black-backed jackal (Canis 29 mesomelas). These findings require that the wider impacts of providing supplementary carrion 30 for conserving threatened species are fully investigated. 31
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