Co‐occurrence of high densities of brown hyena and spotted hyena in central Tuli, Botswana

S Vissia,F Van Langevelde,R Wadhwa

doi:10.1111/jzo.12873

S Vissia, F Van Langevelde + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12873

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Abstract

AbstractLarge carnivore populations are declining worldwide due to anthropogenic causes such as habitat loss and human expansion into wild areas. Competition between large carnivores can exacerbate this decline. While brown hyena Parahyaena brunnea and spotted hyena Crocuta crocuta belong to the same family, they are rarely found in the same area or co‐occur at low densities as spotted hyena are known to exclude brown hyena. In Central Tuli, Botswana, however, brown hyena and spotted hyena are both found at high densities. We undertook a camera trap survey in this area to estimate the densities of both species, and to examine temporal overlap and co‐detection patterns of brown and spotted hyena. Estimated population densities based on spatial capture–recapture models were 10.5 ± 1.9/100 km2 for brown hyena and 14.9 ± 2.2/100 km2 for spotted hyena. These population densities are among the highest reported estimates in southern Africa. Strong temporal overlap was found between brown and spotted hyena, while there was no decrease in detection rate of brown hyena at camera sites where spotted hyena were also detected, which indicates that both hyena species did not tend to avoid encounters. Although both species compete for the same prey, we suggest as possible explanations that prey densities are high and that competition does not significantly negatively impact brown hyena, because brown hyena is a scavenger whereas spotted hyena scavenge and kill prey. With the found high densities of both carnivores, this study adds to the known variation in composition of existing large carnivore communities and suggests testable explanations for these densities.

Highlights

Most large carnivore populations worldwide are declining as a result of loss and fragmentation of habitat (Chapron et al, 2014), human expansion into wild areas (Yihune et al, 2009; Mponzi, Lepczyk & Kissui, 2014) and unsustainable trophy hunting (Treves & Karanth, 2003; Treves, 2009)
The carnivore guild consists of lion, leopard, spotted hyena, brown hyena, wild dog, aardwolf Proteles cristata, black-backed jackal Canis mesomelas, bat-eared fox Otocyon megalotis, African wildcat Felis sylvestris lybica, African civet Civettictis civetta, honey badger Mellivora capensis and small-spotted genet Genetta genetta all being present in the Tuli block
The number of independent photographs captured across camera trap stations for brown and spotted hyena was 448 and 335, respectively

Summary

Introduction

Most large carnivore populations worldwide are declining as a result of loss and fragmentation of habitat (Chapron et al, 2014), human expansion into wild areas (Yihune et al, 2009; Mponzi, Lepczyk & Kissui, 2014) and unsustainable trophy hunting (Treves & Karanth, 2003; Treves, 2009). Large carnivores are among those taxa most sensitive to these changes yet are economically important (in terms of benefits from tourism and depredation costs on domestic animals) as well as ecologically important (in terms of ecosystem functioning) (Naidoo et al, 2011; Ripple et al, 2014). Competition may potentially change and drive carnivore community patterns, determine niche partitioning and possibly limit coexistence of sympatric carnivores (Satge, Teichmann & Christescu, 2017). In carnivore communities with species that experience strong interference competition, we can expect that the sympatric species differ in their spatial or temporal distribution or diet to facilitate coexistence (Di Bitetti et al, 2010; Comley et al, 2020)

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