Abstract
Intraspecific interactions between individuals or groups of individuals of the same species are an important component of population dynamics. Interactions can be static, such as spatial overlap, or dynamic based on the interactions of movements, and can be mediated through communication, such as the deployment of scent marks. Interactions and their behavioural outcomes can be difficult to determine, especially for species that live at low densities. With the use of GPS collars we quantify both static and dynamic interactions between male cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) and the behavioural outcomes. The 99% home-ranges of males overlapped significantly while there was little overlap of the 50% home-ranges. Despite this overlap, male cheetahs rarely came into close proximity of one another, possibly because presence was communicated through frequent visits to marking posts. The minimum distance between individuals in a dyad ranged from 89m to 196m but the average proximity between individuals ranged from 17,145 ± 6,865m to 26,367 ± 11,288m. Possible interactions took place more frequently at night than by day and occurred mostly in the 50% home-range of one individual of a dyad or where cores of both individuals overlapped. After a possible encounter male cheetahs stayed in close proximity to each other for up to 6 hours, which could be the result of a territory defence strategy or the presence of a receptive female. We believe that one of the encounters between a singleton and a 5-male coalition resulted in the death of the singleton. Our results give new insights into cheetah interactions, which could help our understanding of ecological processes such as disease transmission.
Highlights
We investigate interactions between male cheetahs using location data collected with Global Positioning System (GPS) collars by investigating 1) static interactions by quantifying spatial overlap and visits to marking posts to determine the frequency of indirect interactions to try and understand the role that marking posts play in cheetah ecology, 2) dynamic interactions by quantifying the proximity between different individuals and 3) the outcomes of possible interactions in terms
This high degree of overlap observed in the Maasai Mara could be related to the pattern of prey availability [43], we do not have the data to test this
Apart from one dyad, there was little overlap of core areas (50% kernels) and it could be that core areas are defended more intensively than the peripheral areas [29]
Summary
Territorial boundaries can be fluid [24] and it is believed that cheetahs use a ‘time-share’ approach [25] where territories and home-ranges can overlap but where direct interactions between cheetahs are minimised through olfactory communication Territorial males advertise their presence by scent marking (urinating and defecating) on marking posts which are usually prominent landscape features such as termite mounds, logs or trees [23, 26]. We investigate interactions between male cheetahs using location data collected with GPS collars by investigating 1) static interactions by quantifying spatial overlap and visits to marking posts to determine the frequency of indirect interactions to try and understand the role that marking posts play in cheetah ecology, 2) dynamic interactions by quantifying the proximity between different individuals and 3) the outcomes of possible interactions in terms. Because encounters between males can be aggressive [27] we predict that the movement behaviour after a possible encounter would indicate avoidance behaviour (moving away from the encounter location, moving away from one another, increased distance travelled and decreased path tortuosity)
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