Fluctuating food resources and home ranges in brown hyaenas living in a semi‐arid environment

Abstract

AbstractWhilst food availability influences space use by animals, how fluctuating resources influence the location of home ranges and space use patterns is little understood. In this study, we first determined the home range of brown hyaenas (Parahyaena brunnea) living inside, and adjacent to, the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, Botswana. We then examined home range use and how home range fidelity varied depending on the spatio‐temporal variability of available resources that were important for brown hyaenas. Finally, we determined if there was any variation in space use between male and female brown hyaenas. We found that brown hyaenas lived in well‐defined home ranges and showed strong spatial associations with other group members. Brown hyaenas shifted their seasonal home ranges to match food distribution. Hyaenas living in variable food environments demonstrated greater fluctuations in seasonal home range sizes and lower levels of home range retention than individuals from clans in more stable food environments. While home range edges remained more stable for clans located in areas with more food, they still showed a high degree of spatial plasticity in seasonal and annual movements in response to food availability and distribution over time. Clans living inside the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park did not defend an area sufficiently large to provide adequate food resources all year and individuals foraged into adjacent clan ranges when food was scarce. Hyaenas in clans outside Makgadikgadi Pans National Park lived in an area that contained adequate food resources all year. Gender did not influence space use by brown hyaenas.