Animal activity patterns are highly variable and influenced by internal and external factors, including social processes. Quantifying activity patterns in natural settings can be challenging, as it is difficult to monitor animals over long time periods. Here, we developed and validated a machine-learning-based classifier to identify behavioural states from accelerometer data of wild spotted hyenas
Anthropogenic disturbance can have important influences on the fitness and behaviors of wild animals, including their boldness when exposed to risky conditions. We presented spotted hyenas (
- Award ID(s):
- 1853934
- PAR ID:
- 10460317
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Ethology
- Volume:
- 126
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 0179-1613
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 97-110
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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(Crocuta crocuta) , social carnivores that live in large fission–fusion societies. By combining this classifier with continuous collar-based accelerometer data from five hyenas, we generated a complete record of activity patterns over more than one month. We used these continuous behavioural sequences to investigate how past activity, individual idiosyncrasies, and social synchronization influence hyena activity patterns. We found that hyenas exhibit characteristic crepuscular-nocturnal daily activity patterns. Time spent active was independent of activity level on previous days, suggesting that hyenas do not show activity compensation. We also found limited evidence for an effect of individual identity on activity, and showed that pairs of hyenas who synchronized their activity patterns must have spent more time together. This study sheds light on the patterns and drivers of activity in spotted hyena societies, and also provides a useful tool for quantifying behavioural sequences from accelerometer data. -
Understanding the factors that facilitate the emergence of cooperation among organisms is central to the study of social evolution. Spotted hyenas Crocuta crocuta frequently cooperate to mob lions Panthera leo, approaching the lions as a tightknit group while vocalizing loudly in an attempt to overwhelm them and drive them away. Whereas cooperative mobbing behavior has been well documented in birds and some mammals, to our knowledge it has never been described during interactions between 2 apex predators. Using a 27-year dataset, we characterize lion–hyena encoun- ters, assess rates of mobbing behavior observed during these interactions, and inquire whether mobbing results in successful acquisition of food. Lions and hyenas interacted most often at fresh kills, especially as prey size and the number of hyenas present increased. Possession of food at the beginning of an interaction positively affected retention of that food by each predator species. The presence of male lions increased the probability of an interspecific interaction but decreased the likelihood of hyenas obtaining or retaining possession of the food. Hyena mobbing rates were high- est at fresh kills, but lower when adult male lions were present. The occurrence of mobbing was pre- dicted by an increase in the number of hyenas present. Whether or not mobbing resulted in acquisi- tion of food from lions was predicted by an increase in the number of mobs formed by the hyenas present, suggesting that cooperation among hyenas enhances their fitness.more » « less
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Abstract Populations of large carnivores are declining in many parts of the world due to anthropogenic activity. Some species of large carnivores, however, are able to coexist with people by altering their behavior. Altered behaviors may be challenging to identify in large carnivores because these animals are typically cryptic, nocturnal, live at low densities, and because changes in their behavior may be subtle or emerge slowly over many years. We studied the effects of livestock presence on the movements of one large carnivore, the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta). We fit 22 adult female spotted hyenas with GPS collars to quantify their movements in areas with and without livestock or herders present, in and around a protected area in southwestern Kenya. We investigated anthropogenic, social, and ecological effects on the speed of movement, distances traveled, long-distance movements, and extraterritorial excursions by spotted hyenas. Hyenas living primarily within the protected area, but in the presence of livestock and herders, moved faster, traveled over longer distances, and were more likely to be within their territories than did conspecifics living in areas without livestock and herders. Hyenas of low social rank were more likely than hyenas of high social rank to engage in long-distance travel events, and these were more likely to occur when prey were scarce. The movement patterns of this large African carnivore indicate a flexibility that may allow them to persist in landscapes that are becoming increasingly defined by people.
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Abstract Environmental factors early in life can have lasting influence on the development and phenotypes of animals, but the underlying molecular modifications remain poorly understood. We examined cross‐sectional associations among early life socioecological factors and global DNA methylation in 293 wild spotted hyenas (
Crocuta crocuta ) in the Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, grouped according to three age classes (cub, subadult and adult). Explanatory variables of interest included annual maternal rank based on outcomes of dyadic agonistic interactions, litter size, wild ungulate prey density and anthropogenic disturbance in the year each hyena was born based on counts of illegal livestock in the Reserve. The dependent variable of interest was global DNA methylation, assessed via the LUminometric Methylation Assay, which provides a percentage methylation value calculated at CCGG sites across the genome. Among cubs, we observed approximately 2.75% higher CCGG methylation in offspring born to high‐ than low‐ranking mothers. Among cubs and subadults, higher anthropogenic disturbance corresponded with greater %CCGG methylation. In both cubs and adults, we found an inverse association between prey density measured before a hyena was 3 months old and %CCGG methylation. Our results suggest that maternal rank, anthropogenic disturbance and prey availability early in life are associated with later life global DNA methylation. Future studies are required to understand the extent to which these DNA methylation patterns relate to adult phenotypes and fitness outcomes. -
Collective action problems arise when cooperating individuals suffer costs of cooperation, while the benefits of cooperation are received by both cooperators and defectors. We address this problem using data from spotted hyenas fighting with lions. Lions are much larger and kill many hyenas, so these fights require cooperative mobbing by hyenas for them to succeed. We identify factors that predict when hyena groups engage in cooperative fights with lions, which individuals choose to participate and how the benefits of victory are distributed among cooperators and non-cooperators. We find that cooperative mobbing is better predicted by lower costs (no male lions, more hyenas) than higher benefits (need for food). Individual participation is facilitated by social factors, both over the long term (close kin, social bond strength) and the short term (greeting interactions prior to cooperation). Finally, we find some direct benefits of participation: after cooperation, participants were more likely to feed at contested carcasses than non-participants. Overall, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that, when animals face dangerous cooperative dilemmas, selection favours flexible strategies that are sensitive to dynamic factors emerging over multiple time scales.