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 (
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
- Award ID(s):
- 1853934
- PAR ID:
- 10539878
- Publisher / Repository:
- The Royal Society
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Royal Society Open Science
- Volume:
- 10
- Issue:
- 11
- ISSN:
- 2054-5703
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Abstract Crocuta crocuta ) from two populations, each exposed to a different level of human activity, with a life‐size model hyena representing an intruder from another clan. The high‐disturbance population lived adjacent to human settlements, and the low‐disturbance population inhabited a relatively undisturbed part of the same national park in Kenya. The mock intruder was presented to individual hyenas to assess their reactions to an alien hyena, and to determine whether their reactions varied with their exposure to anthropogenic activity. We found that human disturbance was indeed associated with hyena risk‐taking behavior in response to the model intruder. Hyenas tested in the low‐disturbance area exhibited more risk‐taking behaviors by approaching the mock intruder more closely, and spending more time near it, than did their counterparts living in high‐disturbance areas. Hyenas that spent less time in close proximity to the model had greater survivorship than those that spent more time in close proximity to it, regardless of disturbance level. Furthermore, the individual differences in risk‐taking measured here were consistent with those obtained previously from the same animals using a different set of experimental manipulations. However, the experimentally induced behaviors were not consistent with naturally occurring risk‐taking behaviors in proximity to lions; this suggests that risk‐taking behaviors are consistent within individuals across experimental contexts, but that exposure to lions elicits different responses. Although our results are consistent with those from earlier tests of anthropogenic disturbance and boldness in spotted hyenas and other predators, they differ from results obtained from birds and small mammals, which are generally found to be bolder in areas characterized by human disturbance. -
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 Environment structure often shapes social interactions. Spatial attractors that draw multiple individuals may play a particularly important role in dispersed groups, where individuals must first encounter one another to interact. We use GPS data recorded simultaneously from five spotted hyenas (
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Abstract Within a large carnivore guild, subordinate competitors (African wild dog,
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