A snapshot into the spotted hyaena's feeding ecology (<i>Crocuta crocuta</i>) in the miombo woodland of Zambia

Rduch, Vera

doi:10.1111/aje.12347

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…In contrast to the situation a half‐century ago, puku are now the most important prey for wild dogs, leopards, and cheetahs, and the fourth most important prey for lions. Although spotted hyenas are not common in KNP, puku are now their most important prey, based on the composition of 58 scats (Rduch, ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bar outline colour identifies prey species that are smaller or larger than median body mass within the KNP ungulate guild [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com] a half-century ago, puku are now the most important prey for wild dogs, leopards, and cheetahs, and the fourth most important prey for lions. Although spotted hyenas are not common in KNP, puku are now their most important prey, based on the composition of 58 scats (Rduch, 2017). Figure 1 is based on the number of kills that each prey species contributed to each carnivore's diet, rather than biomass, and the decreased importance of large prey would only be strengthened if these data were weighted by differences in mass.…”

Section: Re Sultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Changes in African large carnivore diets over the past half‐century reveal the loss of large prey

Creel

Matandiko

Schuette

et al. 2018

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Globally, large carnivores are declining due to direct persecution, habitat loss, and prey depletion. The effects of prey depletion could be amplified by changes in the composition of the herbivore (prey) community that provoke changes in carnivore diets, but this possibility has received little attention. We tested for changes over the past half‐century in prey selection by the large carnivore guild in Zambia's Kafue National Park (KNP). Across 52 predator–prey dyads, 71% of the observed changes showed that large prey have become less important and small prey have become more important. Consequently, dietary niche breadth has decreased for KNP carnivores and niche overlap has increased. We tested whether changes in the importance of prey species are related to their current abundance and uniformly found that prey that have increased in importance are now relatively common, while those that have decreased in importance are now relatively rare. We identify four potential effects of these changes for conservation (through intraguild competition, group size, the energetics of hunting, and vulnerability to snaring) that warrant investigation. Synthesis and applications. Patterns of prey selection by the large carnivores in Kafue National Park (KNP) have changed appreciably over the past half‐century. Decreased predation on large prey, which are now relatively rare, has caused niche compression and increased overlap in carnivore diets. Predation by all KNP large carnivores now concentrates on four small prey species that remain relatively abundant (impala, puku, lechwe, and warthog). Methods to detect such changes in interactions between species are well‐established, but are rarely applied to large carnivore‐ungulate systems. To guide conservation of ecosystem function, monitoring programmes should consider whether prey depletion alters the patterns of predation or competition within the predator guild because these interactions strongly affect the distribution and abundance of both predators and prey. If the patterns seen in KNP are general, then where carnivores are limited by prey depletion, conservation efforts will be most effective if they focus on mitigating the loss of large prey. In KNP, targeted efforts to protect prey larger than 200 kg, particularly buffalo, should be a priority.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Re Sultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in African large carnivore diets over the past half‐century reveal the loss of large prey

Creel

Matandiko

Schuette

et al. 2018

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Spotted hyaena Crocuta crocuta feeding ecology and selectivity of large herbivorous prey in the Namib desert

Fester

Hockings

Vuuren³

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

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Spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta, Erxleben) are large opportunistic apex carnivores able to hunt large-bodied prey several times their own weight (Kruuk, 1972). Multiple studies have determined carnivore-prey relationships across various biomes, leading to a general knowledge of spotted hyaena feeding ecology (Cusack et al., 2017). Their feeding relationships with both medium and large prey can influence population and spatial distributions through interactions within their geographical area (M'soka et al., 2016;Owen-Smith & Mills, 2008). Studies have found that spotted hyaenas tend to persist in environments where they fluidly adjust their diets according to the most available prey (Cooper et al., 1999).Spotted hyaena are present in the Namib-Naukluft Park (NNP), an arid, resource-limited environment within the south Namib Desert, Namibia (Mills & Hofer, 1998). Spotted hyaena diet of medium to large herbivorous prey through fecal analyses has been previously recorded in the Namib Desert by Tilson et al. (1980). Fecal analyses

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Kobus vardonii(Artiodactyla: Bovidae)

Rduch

2020

Mammalian Species

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Kobus vardonii (Livingstone, 1857) is a bovid commonly known as the puku. It is a medium-sized antelope with a golden-yellow coat and white underparts, sexually dimorphic as only males carry lyre-shaped horns, and according to current taxonomy it is one of 12 extant species in the genus Kobus. Adult males defend territories, whereas females and young move around in unstable groups. Feeding on a great variety of grasses, K. vardonii occurs in grasslands along rivers and lakes in southern central Africa with Zambia being the center of its distribution and Tanzania holding the largest population. It is classified as “Near Threatened” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

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A snapshot into the spotted hyaena's feeding ecology (Crocuta crocuta) in the miombo woodland of Zambia

Cited by 3 publications

References 17 publications

Changes in African large carnivore diets over the past half‐century reveal the loss of large prey

Changes in African large carnivore diets over the past half‐century reveal the loss of large prey

Spotted hyaena Crocuta crocuta feeding ecology and selectivity of large herbivorous prey in the Namib desert

Kobus vardonii(Artiodactyla: Bovidae)

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