The effect of competing carnivores on the feeding behaviour of leopards (Panthera pardus) in an African savanna

Abstract

Competition and predation within the large predator guild are important factors shaping the behaviour and demographics of sympatric carnivores (Caro & Stoner, 2003;Hayward et al., 2006). In the wild, carnivores are known to scavenge on animals that have died of natural causes and to kleptoparasitize kills from each other

Using by‐catch camera trapping data for estimating the population size of spotted hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta)

“…Our density estimate (25.1 per 100 km 2 ) was higher than recorded in other studies (range = 10.1-14.9 per 100 km 2 , Cozzi et al, 2013, Rich et al, 2019and Vissia et al, 2021in Botswana and Braczkowski et al, 2022 (Kruuk, 1970;Trinkel, 2009). Although lions and leopards also scavenge, they are not as adept as spotted hyaenas at finding carcasses (Tarugara et al, 2021). In addition, being cursorial predators, spotted hyaenas ordinarily hunt down weak and old individuals (Dusseldorp, 2013), thus removing undesirable genes from the prey population, leaving strong and healthy assemblages.…”

“…Camera trapping is a powerful tool for monitoring animals in their natural environments (Devens et al, 2018; Royle et al, 2017). The technique can be used to record information on species occurrence, diversity, activity and behaviour (Caravaggi et al, 2017; Royle et al, 2017; Tarugara et al, 2021). Camera trapping is commonly used for capture–recapture surveys of boldly marked species to generate population size statistics.…”

“…Spotted hyaenas provide an important ecosystem service in multi‐predator systems, that is, cleaning the environment of carcasses (Kruuk, 1970; Trinkel, 2009). Although lions and leopards also scavenge, they are not as adept as spotted hyaenas at finding carcasses (Tarugara et al, 2021). In addition, being cursorial predators, spotted hyaenas ordinarily hunt down weak and old individuals (Dusseldorp, 2013), thus removing undesirable genes from the prey population, leaving strong and healthy assemblages.…”

“…Interpreting these data based on the focal species alone, i.e., independent of the associated taxa may, produce biased inferences. By‐catch data can provide important ancillary information which can help to provide a fuller insight into a species' co‐existence ecology (Edwards et al, 2018; Hardouin et al, 2021; Sunarto et al, 2015; Tarugara et al, 2021). We found that the use of bait at camera stations facilitated the sufficient recording of spotted hyaena presence to enable density estimation (Joubert et al, 2020).…”

Population modelling insights of extinct environments: the case of the Kem Kem palaeocommunity

“…Another important interaction is the intraguild predation, which involves both interspecific competition and predation among the involved species, and this type of interaction also potentially occurs in African savannah [9]. Regarding indirect disputes, a top predator can inhibit the foraging behaviour of mesopredators or shift their foraging range [11,12,13]. This latter mechanism of avoidance is of particular interest for the Kem Kem palaeocommunity, since it does not necessarily involve actual clash, something that to my knowledge was not yet found in the fossil record among the large predators.…”