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Resource Availability Was Linked to How Lions Co-occurred With Four Other Large Carnivores

Lioness pursuing a spotted hyena on a road in Kruger National Park
Research · Ecology

A 2026 study in the Greater Limpopo landscape examined how African lions (Panthera leo) co-occurred with cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), leopards (Panthera pardus), spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) and African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus). The central result was that lion presence alone did not explain the patterns: access to prey, water and other key resources was strongly associated with where the carnivores occurred together.

Between February and October 2015, researchers surveyed spoor at 768 two-kilometre sites across northern Kruger National Park in South Africa and adjoining Limpopo National Park in Mozambique. The two parks provided contrasting conditions. Kruger had much higher lion and spotted-hyena densities, while Limpopo had lower prey densities and stronger human pressures including pastoralism, poaching and persecution of large carnivores.

Each species tracked its own key resources

For every carnivore, occurrence was best predicted by access to important resources. Lion occurrence in Kruger was positively associated with water availability, whereas lions in Limpopo were strongly associated with buffalo occurrence. Leopards and cheetahs in Limpopo were associated with impala, and spotted hyenas there were strongly associated with kudu.

The statistical co-occurrence patterns between lions and the other predators also varied with resource availability. In Kruger, increasing water availability was associated with lower lion–leopard and lion–cheetah co-occurrence. In Limpopo, greater buffalo occurrence was associated with lower co-occurrence for all four lion–carnivore pairs. The authors interpret these patterns as consistent with greater resource availability allowing subordinate carnivores more opportunity to avoid lions spatially.

African wild dogs showed the strongest evidence of lion avoidance

The lion–African wild dog relationship provided the clearest support for the competitive-exclusion hypothesis. In Kruger, wild dogs occupied an estimated 26% of sites where lions were present and 52% of sites where lions were absent. Across the broader analysis, avoidance of lions by co-occurring carnivores generally increased as lion occurrence increased.

Some estimates were uncertain because cheetahs and African wild dogs were detected at relatively few sites: 22 and 19, respectively. The authors nevertheless conclude that resource availability and lion abundance jointly influence carnivore-community structure, with implications for protected-area management and the rewilding of landscapes containing several large predator species.

Sources and image credit

  1. Everatt, K. T., Andresen, L., Moore, J. F., Hines, J. E., & Kerley, G. I. H. (2026). The functional effects of African lions on co-occurring carnivores differ across species pairs and with changes in resource availability and lion abundance. Oecologia, 208, 21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-025-05855-5Primary peer-reviewed open-access study, published and version of record 8 January 2026; CC BY 4.0.

Image: Justin Ponder — lioness pursuing a spotted hyena in Kruger National Park, South Africa, 1 September 2023. Wikimedia Commons / iNaturalist photo 325033873. Original uncropped frame; CC BY 4.0. Representative image for this story; not presented as an animal or scene from the reported study or event. · CC BY 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ · Source

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Ecology

SPECIES IN THIS STORY

Species in this story

Lion Panthera leo Explore species Cheetah Acinonyx jubatus Explore species Leopard Panthera pardus Explore species Spotted Hyena Crocuta crocuta Explore species African Wild Dog Lycaon pictus Explore species

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