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Characteristics of African wild dog natal dens selected under different interspecific predation pressures

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Abstract

To successfully reproduce, many carnivorous mammals need access to suitable den sites. Den site selection is often based on fitness related criteria like escape from predators, food availability and shelter from extreme weather conditions. African wild dogs are cooperative breeders that use a den to give birth to their offspring. They often co-exist with lions and spotted hyenas, both of which are known to kill African wild dog pups. Little is known about den site selection by African wild dogs. In this study, we compared vegetation characteristics and distribution of roads and waterholes around den sites and random sites, in areas with high and low lion and spotted hyena densities. In both areas, African wild dogs selected den sites in closed woodland with little visibility, which is likely to reduce detection by predators, increase the likelihood of escape when detected, and might provide shelter from extreme weather conditions. In the high predator density area, African wild dogs seemed to spatially avoid predators by selecting den sites in this type of habitat relatively further away from waterholes and roads. African wild dogs have high energetic costs of gestation. Therefore, even when predation risk is relatively low, they are likely to try to maximise their fitness by choosing a den site in habitat that will provide optimal protection for their offspring, leaving little additional options to respond to a higher predation pressure.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Painted Dog Conservation, Hwange National Park, P.O. Box 72, Dete, Zimbabwe

    Esther van der Meer, Jealous Mpofu & Gregory S. A. Rasmussen

  2. CNRS HERD Project, Hwange National Park, P.O. Box 62, Dete, Zimbabwe

    Hervé Fritz

  3. Universite’ de Lyon, CNRS Universite’ Claude Bernard Lyon 1 UMR, 5558, Laboratoire Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, Bât Gregor Mendel, 43 Bd du 11 novembre 1918, 69622, Villeurbanne Cedex, France

    Esther van der Meer & Hervé Fritz

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  1. Esther van der Meer
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Correspondence to Esther van der Meer.

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van der Meer, E., Mpofu, J., Rasmussen, G.S.A. et al. Characteristics of African wild dog natal dens selected under different interspecific predation pressures. Mamm Biol 78, 336–343 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2013.04.006

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