Spatio-temporal niche partitioning between the African lion (Panthera leo leo) and spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) in western African savannas

Abstract

Large predators in West Africa are threatened with extinction mainly by direct and indirect effects of human activities. Within this context, intraguild competition can limit populations of some species and even play a role in extinction. In this study, we used camera trapping to assess the spatial and temporal patterns of niche partitioning between the African lion Panthera leo leo and the spotted hyena Crocuta crocuta in Pendjari Biosphere Reserve, Benin. We found that these predators are more nocturnal in the hunting zone than in the national park of the biosphere reserve. The temporal overlap between lion and hyena was high in the national park (Pianka overlap index 0.88) and low in the hunting zones (0.39). The spatial overlap was low (0.40 in the national park and 0.38 in the hunting zones). The two predators were distributed independently in the national park, but showed significant positive association (co-occurrence) in the hunting zones. We suggest that anthropogenic activities leading to depletion of predators and their prey limit lion and hyena distribution in the hunting zones to some safety areas which are strongly selected by both predators. We recommend to significantly improve conservation efforts in the hunting zones of Pendjari Biosphere Reserve and to expand research of lion-hyena intraguild relationships to improve predator survival in West Africa.