Long-Term Demography of Spotted Hyena (<i>Crocuta crocuta</i>) in a Lion-Depleted but Prey-Rich Ecosystem.

ABSTRACT: Interspecific competition has strongly shaped the evolution of large carnivore guilds. In Africa, the lion (Panthera leo) and spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta, hereafter hyena) exert direct and indirect competitive impacts on each other and on subordinate guild members. The impacts of competition on demography are complex and not well understood. With carnivore guilds now ubiquitously impacted by humans, disentangling the effects of interspecific competition and other drivers of hyena demography is important. Western Zambia's Greater Liuwa Ecosystem (GLE) provides a unique natural experiment where lions were functionally eliminated from the system. Hyenas are the apex predator, with an abundant prey base and low levels of human-hyena conflict. We measured GLE hyena survival and

SUBMITTER: Martens S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11949567 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature