Cheetah communication at scent-marking sites can be inhibited or delayed by predators

Abstract

Scent-marking is a way for individuals to indirectly communicate; however, the information is not exclusive to a single species and can be informative to a whole community. Prey or competitively inferior species can use scent-marks from predators/dominant species to avoid interactions. Cheetahs are a subordinate member of the large carnivore guild in Africa, yet olfactory communication in this guild has yet to be explored. We explore whether intraguild or intraspecific communication is occurring at cheetah scent-marking sites as well as whether dominant predator avoidance by cheetah occurs in response to predator presence or predator scent-marking. We recorded cheetah behaviour with video recording camera traps at cheetah scent-marking sites where a ‘landscape of fear’ was provided through natural predator presence or manipulated cues of predator presence. We found that cheetah took longer to return to scent-marking sites when a lion or a leopard was the previous species to visit the site. Moreover, cheetah increased the amount of time that they spent sniffing at scent-marking sites when another predator, as opposed to a cheetah, was the previous visitor. Finally, we noted that females never visited a scent-marking site after a predator was present nor when a predators’ scent-mark was present. Our results demonstrate that cheetahs use scent-marking sites for intraspecific communication, but also obtain intraguild information at these sites. Dominant predators can inhibit or at least delay important intraspecific communication around estrous events that occurs between cheetah at scent-marking sites, a novel form of interference competition. Competition occurs between species, and dominant species deprive subordinate species from key resources. Individuals are able to avoid the cost of direct interactions with competitors by using cues (both direct and indirect) such as scents to assess such risks. Using video recording cameras at cheetah scent-marking sites, we provide novel insight into how dominant predator species shape cheetah behaviour through the use of avoidance by cheetah to the presence of dominant predators. Scent-marking sites are important to cheetah communication around reproduction opportunities and territory maintenance; however, dominant predator species’ cues blocked female reproductive signalling at the sites and delay male visitation. This serves as a novel form of interference competition for cheetah, but we suggest that cheetahs maintain communication through the use of multiple sites.