High hunting costs make African wild dogs vulnerable to kleptoparasitism by hyaenas

Abstract

The African wild dog Lycaon pictus is critically endangered, with only about 5,000 animals remaining in the wild1. Across a range of habitats, there is a negative relationship between the densities of wild dogs and of the spotted hyaena Crocuta crocuta2. It has been suggested that this is because hyaenas act as 'kleptoparasites' and steal food from dogs. We have now measured the daily energy expenditure of free-ranging dogs to model the impact of kleptoparasitism on energy balance.