DOI: 10.5061/dryad.cz8w9gj81
title: Leopard and spotted hyena camera trap dataset

description: Human disturbance has the potential to alter competitive interactions,
 favoring species better able to adapt to areas used by humans. One such
 species is the spotted hyena (Crocutu crocuta), which has been successful
 in human dominated areas throughout Africa, competing through
 kleptoparasitism with other carnivore species (e.g., leopards [Panthera
 pardus]). In the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania, leopard density declines
 sharply close to human settlements and hyenas are their only competitors.
 Using camera trap data and a spatio-temporal occupancy model, we assessed
 the relative dominance of each species through spatial co-occurrence,
 altered activity patterns and temporary site avoidance. We tested the
 hypothesis that hyenas gain a competitive advantage over leopards in
 human-dominated areas due to their relatively higher tolerance for
 anthropogenic activities. We found that while hyena occupancy was best
 predicted by prey occupancy and not strongly affected by landscape factors
 associated with humans, leopards, especially male leopards, were less
 likely to be detected close to human settlements. Female leopards, which
 are smaller than males, exhibited activity shifts and temporary site
 avoidance in response to hyenas, whereas hyenas shifted their activity
 patterns in response to male leopards. These results suggest that while
 hyenas may be behaviorally dominant over female leopards, they are
 subordinate to male leopards. We found that male leopards and hyenas were
 less likely to co-occur closer to people, especially where prey was
 scarce, suggesting subordinance of hyenas to male leopards may be
 mitigated by human disturbance. Furthermore, young male leopards shifted
 their activity patterns to be more diurnal in response to hyena presence,
 suggesting that dominance relationship between hyenas and leopards
 develops with age and is probably related to body size. These results
 indicate that human disturbance has the potential to affect the
 competitive relationship between leopards and hyenas in the Udzungwa
 mountains, but that relationships will vary with sex and body size.
description: <strong>Ethics
 Statement</strong> Data collection consisted of non-invasive,
 remotely set camera traps and did not involve direct contact or
 interaction with the animals. This research was conducted under research
 permit numbers 2013-274-NA-2013-111 and
 2014-137-ER-2013-111,
 issued to RWH by the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology
 (COSTECH). <strong>Study area</strong>
 The Udzungwa Mountains are in
 south-central Tanzania (centred on 7<sup>◦</sup>46’ S,
 36<sup>◦</sup>43’ E) and are part of the renowned biodiversity
 hotspot of the Eastern Arc Mountains (Rovero, Menegon, et al. 2014; Burgess et al.
 2007). The Udzungwa
 Mountains are completely encompassed by agriculture, with no connectivity
 to nearby protected areas (Rovero, Martin, et al.
 2014). Northern Udzungwa
 is protected as the Udzungwa Mountains National Park (UMNP; 1990
 km<sup>2</sup>) which merges to the south and west with the
 central part of the Kilombero Nature Reserve (1345
 km<sup>2</sup> (Figure 1).
 <strong>Camera
 trapping</strong> We deployed six camera trap arrays covering
 approximately 2500 km<sup>2</sup> across five habitat types.
 Each array consisted of 25-34 paired camera traps and was deployed for
 12-49 days (mean=31) for a total of 164 sites monitored for 5038 camera
 nights of total survey effort (Figure 1; Table S1). We performed the
 camera trapping during the dry season, August to December 2013 and from
 June to December 2014. We followed the protocol by Henschel and Ray (2003) for the camera trap placement with average trap
 spacing of 1.6 km, placed in an evenly spaced random array. Mean distance
 between the edge of each camera trapping array was 22.8 km (min. 5 km,
 max. 49 km). At each site a pair of camera traps were placed 30-40 cm
 above ground level and 3-4 m from the centre of an animal trail facing
 each other. A minimum of one camera trap per station was a white Xenon
 flash Cuddeback Ambush (Cuddeback Non Typical Inc., Istanti, WI, USA). In
 87 of 164 stations, the second camera was an infrared camera UOVision
 565HD IR+ (UOVision Technology, Shenzhen, China) set on 15-second video
 recording mode. Sexing of leopards was determined by the presence of
 external male genitalia and confirmed by two independent observers (RWH
 and Francesco Rovero). Male leopard age and presumed dominance status was
 determined by presence/absence of dewlap (Hunter, Henschel, and Ray
 2013).
description: # Leopard and spotted hyena camera trap dataset Actual_date_out: refers to
 the deployment date Retrievel_date: referes to date camera trap was
 collected Long = longitude Lat = latitude Timestamp = time of photographic
 capture Common name = refers to name and gender of species photographed
 Scientific name = refers to latin name of species including gender Count =
 number of animals Distance_to_river: refers to distance to nearest river
 in meters Distance_to_boundary: refers to nearest distance to protected
 area boundary in the Udzungwa mountains Habitat = habitat type
 Mean_prey_occupancy: refers to mean prey species occupancy calculated for
 6 different camera trap grids ref to Havm'f8ller et al. 2019.