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Cited by 133Wildlife Ecology and ConservationPrimate Behavior and EcologyAnimal Behavior and Reproduction

Hunting by male lions: ecological influences and socioecological implications

FUNSTON, P.J, MILLS, M.G.L, BIGGS, H.C, RICHARDSON, P.R.K·1998·Animal Behaviour
DOI 10.1006/anbe.1998.0884
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Abstract

In the Kruger National Park, male lions, Panthera leo, acquire most of their food by hunting rather than scavenging. This study, the most intensive to date of male lion ecology, showed that in savanna woodlands, with high buffalo, Syncerus caffer, densities, male lions were frequent and successful hunters. The main prey species of all male group types, but particularly nonterritorial males, was buffalo. By contrast, females preyed more frequently on the most abundant medium-sized ungulates, such as wildebeest, Connochaetes taurinus, and zebra, Equus burchelli. Thus intraspecific prey selection separation was based primarily on intersexual and, to a lesser extent, social differences. Furthermore, both nonterritorial males and pride females located their favoured prey, buffalo and medium-sized ungulates, respectively, more often than other prey. We investigated the influence of several ecological variables on the socioecology of male lions, particularly as we had determined that territorial males spent little time with their pride females and tended to hunt by themselves in their respective male coalitions. Further analysis showed that in a range of ecosystems in southern and eastern Africa the proportion of time territorial males spent with, and thus scavenged from, their pride females was strongly influenced by vegetation structure, and therefore probably by the assemblage of available ungulates. In open systems, territorial males were, therefore, likely to be encountered with pride females, whereas in more wooded areas they were likely to be encountered away from their pride females. We suggest that this is because vegetation structure influences food/prey availability and hunting success and influences territory maintenance and/or cub defence. (c) 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

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Crossref · 10.1006/anbe.1998.0884

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48 of 48 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • The maximum extent of the viewshed was limited to 300 m because this is the maximum distance from which lions initiate stalking hunts.

    “We limited the maximum extent of the viewshed to 300 m because this is the maximum distance from which lions initiate stalking hunts [52].”

    From Effects of Vegetation Structure on the Location of Lion Kill Sites in African Thicket (2016) · cites this paper as [52]

  • Impala were more often encountered by lions in dense bush, where darkness was considered less important because lions could rely on the cover provided by the vegetation.

    “Impala were more often encountered by lions in dense bush [52], where darkness was considered less important because lions could rely on the cover provided by the vegetation [23].”

    From Effects of Vegetation Structure on the Location of Lion Kill Sites in African Thicket (2016) · cites this paper as [52]

  • Male lions specifically target buffalo elsewhere.

    “Whereas buffalo are a preferred prey species in several savanna ecosystems [21,57,58], they constituted less than 5% of kills found during our study, and less than 1% of male kills (Table 5), despite male lions specifically targeting buffalo elsewhere [52].”

    From Effects of Vegetation Structure on the Location of Lion Kill Sites in African Thicket (2016) · cites this paper as [52]

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Authors
FUNSTON, P. J., MILLS, M. G. L., BIGGS, H. C., & RICHARDSON, P. R. K.
Affiliations
  • University of Pretoria (ZA)
  • South African National Parks (ZA)
ORCID
Venue
Animal Behaviour
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
1998-12
Volume
56
Issue
6
Pages
1333-1345
ISSN
0003-3472 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1006/anbe.1998.0884
OpenAlex
W2022828912
Cited by
133
References
48
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 3
FWCI
1.91
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Animal Behaviour (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
Keywords
lion, hunting behavior, prey selection, socioecology, territoriality, buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, vegetation structure, savanna woodland, hunting success, Kruger National Park

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