Ecological determinants of spotted hyena Crocuta crocuta occupancy in Comoé National Park, Côte d’Ivoire

Abstract

Knowledge of the large carnivore guild is important in view of a possible lion reintroduction into the Comoé National Park (CNP), northern Côte d’Ivoire. We used camera trapping to assess activity patterns, habitat selection, and ecological factors influencing the occupancy of the spotted hyena Crocuta crocuta. Our results showed that the presence of leopard Panthera pardus, the only current other large carnivore and thus potential competitor, did not influence hyena occupancy. Hyena occupancy was only significantly related to Euclidian distance to nearest water point. Manly’s alpha habitat selection index values show a preference of spotted hyena for shrub savannah (α_Sa = 0.71), and Pianka’s overlap index showed low spatial competition with leopard (OIJ_(PNC) = 0.12). Our findings showed that spotted hyena were mostly nocturnal, and generally active at the same time slots with leopard, leading to a high index of temporal overlap (OIJ_(time) = 0.78). The kernel density estimation confirmed that spotted hyenas and leopard shared almost half of their activity patterns (Δ1 = 0.49 and 95% CI = 0.26–0.71). Prey diversity is high in CNP but anthropogenic threats appear to suppress population growth of prey and predators. Conservation efforts should continue to reduce pressures before contemplating a potential lion Panthera leo reintroduction.