Felids Interactions - Interspecific Conflicts

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Interaction of stripped hyena and leopard

Interspecific interactions are crucial for community composition since they govern species distribution, abundance and broadly species coexistence. Interspecific interactions among carnivores have been well studied in India. However, these were limited to a few species only and direct observations are rare. Studies on interspecific interaction between two sympatric carnivores such as leopard and striped hyena with a wide distribution range throughout peninsular India are rare. We report two instances of interactions between leopard Panthera pardus and striped hyena Hyaena hyaena. In one instance, a leopard and a striped hyena were photographed feeding together on an adult nilgai Boselaphus tragocamelus kill of a tigress Panthera tigris. 
We have also recorded a breeding female leopard that killed a striped hyena (sub-adult female) at a den site. We report here photographic evidence on these interactions between leopard and striped hyena for the first time.


Kleptoparasitism has been reported in leopards. However, striped hyena and leopard feeding together has been recorded for the first time to our knowledge. We continued camera trapping for a few days and searched for any evidence of aggressive interaction, but we did not find anything. Later the tigress came back to the kill and consumed it 
(Fig. 1b).

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

In another incident, a leopard with two cubs killed a striped hyena in Sariska Tiger Reserve on 24 December 2014. The killed hyena was from a breeding clan. The clan consisted of a breeding female, two sub-adult helpers and three pups. Sub-adult striped hyenas babysit for their mother at dens and ensure the survival of young pups (Jhala 2013). They can be fatal for young leopards.  
Their den site was inside the leopard’s home range. The leopard detected the den and later killed the helper striped hyena possibly to protect her cubs from any potential danger (Fig. 2a, b & SOM F2). We found the carcass of the striped hyena next to the den. Initial examination of bite marks and indirect evidence such as pugmarks revealed that the hyena was killed by a leopard. However, the carcass was left untouched. Consequently, the clan left the den site after the loss of the female sub-adult helper hyena.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

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