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Broekhuis, F.; Irungu, O.
Role reversal: record of cheetah (_Acinonyx jubatus_) kleptoparasitizing a kill from a spotted hyaena (_Crocuta crocuta_)
2017  African Journal of Ecology (55): 115-117

Members of a carnivore guild influence each other indirectly through resource competition and directly through interactions such as intraguild predation and kleptoparasitism. Kleptoparasitism refers to the parasitic theft of a resource, which in the case of carnivores is captured prey (Case & Gilpin, 1974). Individuals are more likely to kleptoparasitize when the net energetic benefit is higher than that of hunting live prey, particularly when the individual that is being stolen from is weaker and the chances of successful kleptoparasitism are higher (Creel, 2001). The individual stolen from is negatively impacted by kleptoparasitism, not only because a direct encounter can result in injury, but also because they have to expend additional energy to compensate for the loss, thereby increasing foraging costs (Gorman et al., 1998). Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), for example, can be negatively influenced through kleptoparasitism by larger predators such as lions (Panthera leo) and spotted hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta; Hunter, Durant & Caro, 2007). Due to the cheetahs' comparatively smaller body size and predominately solitary nature, cheetahs rarely defend their kills against kleptoparasitism (Caro, 1994). In the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, cheetahs lose up to 12.9% of their kills of which 78% are taken by spotted hyaenas and 15% by lions (Hunter, Durant & Caro, 2007). Similarly, 12% of cheetah kills are stolen in Kruger National Park, South Africa (Mills, Broomhall & du Toit, 2004). Cheetahs on the other hand are not known to steal kills from other predators, but recently the roles were reversed in the Maasai Mara, Kenya.

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