Estimating carnivoran diets using a combination of carcass observations and scats from GPS clusters
Open accessAbstract
Scat analysis is one of the most frequently used methods to assess carnivoran diets and Global Positioning System (GPS) cluster methods are increasingly being used to locate feeding sites for large carnivorans. However, both methods have inherent biases that limit their use. GPS methods to locate kill sites are biased towards large carcasses, while scat analysis over-estimates the biomass consumed from smaller prey. We combined carcass observations and scats collected along known movement routes, assessed using GPS data from four African lion (Panthera leo) prides in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, to determine how a combination of these two datasets change diet estimates. As expected, using carcasses alone under-estimated the number of feeding events on small species, primarily impala (Aepyceros melampus) and warthog (Phacochoerus africanus), in our case by more than 50% and thus significantly under-estimated the biomass consumed per pride per day in comparison to when the diet was assessed using carcass observations alone. We show that an approach that supplements carcass observations with scats that enables the identification of potentially missed feeding events increases the estimates of food intake rates for large carnivorans, with possible ramifications for predator-prey interaction studies dealing with biomass intake rate.
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Large carcasses are less likely influenced by these limitations.
“Nevertheless, our recorded prey spectrum differs from other studies that employed similar methods [21,22], and large carcasses (such as the species in focus here) are less likely influenced by these limitations [59].”
From Effects of Vegetation Structure on the Location of Lion Kill Sites in African Thicket (2016) · cites this paper as [59]
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Research works printed but not linked: 1
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Tambling, C. J., Laurence, S. D., Bellan, S. E., Cameron, E. Z., du Toit, J. T., & Getz, W. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Pretoria (ZA)
- Enviro‐Insight Murrayfield Pretoria South Africa
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- University of Tasmania (AU)
- Mammal Research Institute Department of Zoology and Entomology University of Pretoria Pretoria South Africa
- Corresponding author
- Tambling, C. J.
- Venue
- Journal of Zoology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2011-09
- Volume
- 286
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 102-109
- ISSN
- 0952-8369 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-7998
- PMC
- PMC3293475
- OpenAlex
- W1781229619
- Cited by
- 50
- References
- 45
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 2.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Journal of Zoology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Digital Commons - USU (Utah State University) (submittedVersion)
- eCite Digital Repository (University of Tasmania) (submittedVersion)
- Nelson Mandela University Research Repository (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- UpSpace Institutional Repository (University of Pretoria) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R01GM083863)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Animal Ecology and Behavior Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Rangeland and Wildlife Management
- Keywords
- scat analysis, African lion, lion, foraging site selection, eating speed, impala, warthog, predator-prey interactions, Kruger National Park
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