Leopard (Panthera pardus) Density and the Impact of Spotted Hyaena (Crocuta crocuta) Occurrence on Leopard Presence in the Maasai Mara Ecosystem, Kenya

Abstract

The African large predator guild is one of the last intact large predator guilds globally, and interactions between its members influence ecosystem functioning. We conducted camera-trapping in the Maasai Mara Ecosystem (MME) to estimate leopard (Panthera pardus) population density and investigate whether lion (Panthera leo) and hyaena (Crocuta crocuta) impact leopard presence, while accounting for potential prey presence and habitat. In 2019, we deployed cameras at 34 stations in the Mara Triangle within the MME for 63 nights. We estimated leopard density using a closed population spatially explicit capture–recapture (SECR) framework and examined potential predictors of leopard presence using generalised linear mixed modelling. We recorded 725 leopard images and estimated population density at 1.90 ± 0.56 individuals 100 km²⁻¹, relatively low compared to other areas and only slightly higher than previous MME estimates of cheetah, an ecologically subordinate competitor. The best model predicting leopard presence contained hyaena occurrence and showed a positive association, indicating ‘co-occurrence’. Hyaenas commonly kleptoparasitise leopard kills in MME; that is hyaenas may follow leopards for this reason. Although our preliminary results indicate that hyaena populations may limit leopard populations in the MME, further work is required to explicitly test hypotheses relating to hyaena–leopard interactions.