Stalk and chase: how hunt stages affect hunting success in Serengeti cheetah

Hilborn, Anne; Pettorelli, Nathalie; Orme, C. David L.; Durant, Sarah M.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.06.027

Cited by 37 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 41 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A foraging attempt was any detectable movement in pursuit of an identifiable prey item, while a non-feeding event described the presence of any animal that was not pursued. The definitions of large carnivore hunting tactics vary across studies based on the terrain, target prey, and hunter morphology [23,50,[73][74][75][76][77][78]. The descriptions in Table 2 attempt to distill the fundamental aspects of these terms common across carnivore systems.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studying the tactics used by carnivores has provided insight into the impact pathways between predators and their ecosystem [23], the influence of environmental factors and terrain [78,86], and the importance of inter-and intraspecific competition [23,51,87,88]. Although the bulk of this field has been focused on terrestrial systems, the adaptations of marine carnivores should facilitate similar environmental and energetic evolutionary drivers of hunting behavior [89].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Novel foraging strategies observed in a growing leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx) population at Livingston Island, Antarctic Peninsula

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Leopard seals are apex predators that can alter the community structure of Antarctic coastal ecosystems. Previous behavioral studies were limited to land-based, daytime observations of foraging leopard seals. Consequently, foraging tactics, social behaviors, and indirect ecosystem impacts are poorly understood. Here, we present the first analysis of animal-borne HD video footage for foraging leopard seals. Each CRITTERCAM was deployed with Fastloc GPS and time-depth recorder instruments providing fine-scale habitat context for observed foraging behavior. We analyzed seven deployments obtained in January and February of 2013 and 2014 from adult female leopard seals near mesopredator breeding colonies on Livingston Island, Antarctica. Results:The average deployment length was 4.80 ± 2.45 (range 0.86-9.12) days, which covered a total of 16 foraging trips. Habitat use, along with 39 prey capture attempts, and 11 leopard seal social encounters were scored from 50.3 h of video data. We obtained 3,833 post-filter GPS positions, accurate to within 70 m, and the mean dive depth was 14.84 ± 8.98 m. Leopard seal foraging focused on four prey items: Antarctic fur seals, Antarctic fur seal pups, pygoscelid penguins, and demersal notothen fishes. Ambush tactics used only by a subset of leopard seals drove high capture success rates of fur seal pups. We identified novel prey-specific foraging tactics including stalking and flushing notothen fishes.Conclusions: Leopard seals have been described as generalist apex predators; however, video and movement data suggest that leopard seals employ specialized prey-specific hunting tactics. Although preliminary, our findings indicate that leopard seals can affect coastal ecosystems through pathways beyond direct predation, including intraspecific kleptoparasitism and facultative scavenging/food caching. Our results suggest that position-integrated video data will be vital in quantifying the ecological impact of this abundant and versatile apex predator.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel foraging strategies observed in a growing leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx) population at Livingston Island, Antarctic Peninsula

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although hunger‐mediated decision making was conceptualized at the forefront of optimal foraging theory (Emlen, ), implied in theoretical models (Charnov, ), and demonstrated experimentally with small and short‐lived organisms (Caraco, ), case studies in an experimental setting (penned subjects) with higher trophic levels of carnivores are uncommon and relatively recent (small canid: Berger‐Tal et al., ; avian predator: Embar, Raveh, Burns, & Kotler, ). Attempts to demonstrate hunger mediated risk aversion in large predators in a natural landscape have been unfruitful (Cooper, Pettorelli, & Durant, ; Hilborn, Pettorelli, Orme, & Durant, ). Empirically demonstrating hunger‐mediated decision making in apex predators with respect to human imposed risks is important for understanding three‐party community‐level trophic interactions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hunger mediates apex predator's risk avoidance response in wildland–urban interface

Blecha

Boone

Alldredge

2018

Journal of Animal Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Conflicts between large mammalian predators and humans present a challenge to conservation efforts, as these events drive human attitudes and policies concerning predator species. Unfortunately, generalities portrayed in many empirical carnivore landscape selection studies do not provide an explanation for a predator's occasional use of residential development preceding a carnivore-human conflict event. In some cases, predators may perceive residential development as a risk-reward trade-off. We examine whether state-dependent mortality risk-sensitive foraging can explain an apex carnivore's (Puma concolor) occasional utilization of residential areas. We assess whether puma balance the risk and rewards in a system characterized by a gradient of housing densities ranging from wildland to suburban. Puma GPS location data, characterized as hunting and feeding locations, were used to assess landscape variables governing hunting success and hunting site selection. Hunting site selection behaviour was then analysed conditional on indicators of hunger state. Residential development provided a high energetic reward to puma based on increases in prey availability and hunting success rates associated with increased housing density. Despite a higher energetic reward, hunting site selection analysis indicated that pumas generally avoided residential development, a landscape type attributed with higher puma mortality risk. However, when a puma experienced periods of extended hunger, risk avoidance behaviour towards housing waned. This study demonstrates that an apex carnivore faces a trade-off between acquiring energetic rewards and avoiding risks associated with human housing. Periods of hunger can help explain an apex predator's occasional use of developed landscapes and thus the rare conflicts in the wildland-urban interface. Apex carnivore movement behaviours in relation to human conflicts are best understood as a three-player community-level interaction incorporating wild prey distribution.

show abstract

“…Carnivores hunt using a combination of sit-and-wait, stalk, ambush and charge, or extended coursing strategies (12)(13)(14)(15). While the short-term energetic consequences of hunting (i.e.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Flexible energetics of cheetah hunting strategies provide resistance against kleptoparasitism

Scantlebury

Mills

Wilson

et al. 2014

Science

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Population viability is driven by individual survival, which in turn depends on individuals balancing energy budgets. As carnivores may function close to maximum sustained power outputs, decreased food availability or increased activity may render some populations energetically vulnerable. Prey theft may compromise energetic budgets of mesopredators, such as cheetahs and wild dogs, which are susceptible to competition from larger carnivores. We show that daily energy expenditures (DEE) of cheetahs were similar to sizebased predictions and positively related to distance travelled. Theft at 25% only requires cheetahs to hunt for an extra 1.1h/day, increasing DEE by just 12%. Therefore, not all mesopredators are energetically constrained by direct competition. Other factors that increase DEE, such as those that increase travel, may be more important for population viability.The acquisition and expenditure of energy by animals unifies physiology with population ecology and viability, although interactions between energetics, ecology and survival can be complex (1,2). Indeed, of the studies that have investigated how energetic factors affect population dynamics, most are concerned with the effects of changes in abiotic conditions such as ambient temperature (3), with few examining the effects of changes in biotic conditions, such as the abundance and distribution of prey and competitors (1,4).Although recent human activities have driven declines in large mammalian predators (5), intraguild interactions may also shape carnivore communities. One persistent hypothesis suggests that, because carnivores may be routinely working close to maximum sustained power outputs, decreases in food availability or increases in activity may push them over an energetic precipice (6). Kleptoparasitism, the theft of prey captured by another animal, is one critical element in this interaction, particularly for mesopredators such as wild dogs Lycaon pictus and cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus, which are prone to competition with and displacement by larger more dominant carnivores such as lions Panthera leo, and spotted hyaenas Crocuta crocuta (7-11). The details of such intraguild interactions with respect to energetic implications are, however, poorly understood.Carnivores hunt using a combination of sit-and-wait, stalk, ambush and charge, or extended coursing strategies (12-15). While the short-term energetic consequences of hunting (i.e. the ways which predators chase and subdue prey) are profoundly different (2,16), the longterm costs such as the energy required to locate prey and avoid predators are rarely considered. These costs may be pivotal in determining the viability of different hunting strategies, particularly as it relates to prey abundance, accessibility and loss (2,6,17).We combined behavioral observations of 14 cheetahs from the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park ("Kalahari") with measurements of daily energy expenditure (DEE) to estimate the energetic cost of foraging. We also obtained DEE measurements of five free-ranging cheetahs fr...

show abstract

Stalk and chase: how hunt stages affect hunting success in Serengeti cheetah

Cited by 37 publications

References 41 publications

Novel foraging strategies observed in a growing leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx) population at Livingston Island, Antarctic Peninsula

Novel foraging strategies observed in a growing leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx) population at Livingston Island, Antarctic Peninsula

Hunger mediates apex predator's risk avoidance response in wildland–urban interface

Flexible energetics of cheetah hunting strategies provide resistance against kleptoparasitism

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About