Fear of predators fundamentally shapes the ecology of prey species and drives both inter‐ and intra‐specific interactions. Extensive research has examined the consequences of predation risk from large carnivores on the behavior of wild ungulate prey species. However, many large carnivores not only hunt wild prey but also depredate domestic livestock, especially in pastoralist systems where livestock share land and resources with large carnivores. Northern Tanzania is a hotspot for human–carnivore conflict driven by livestock depredation and interactions are particularly severe between African lions Panthera leo and pastoralist cattle Bos taurus. In this ecosystem, we explored the degree to which pastoralist cattle exhibited anti‐predator behaviors during their daily grazing routines. Using focal animal sampling, we compared two typical anti‐predator behaviors, vigilance and grouping, among cattle in village rangelands with high and low background depredation rates. We found that cattle in high risk village rangelands formed 21.2% larger groups than cattle in low risk village rangelands. Interestingly, cattle in low risk village rangelands spent 68.4% more time vigilant than cattle in high risk village rangelands. These patterns were influenced significantly by the time of day: as sunset approached, cattle in low risk village rangelands spent more time vigilant and cattle in high risk village rangelands formed larger groups. These results suggest that pastoralist cattle exhibit anti‐predator strategies that vary both spatially and temporally, and that such strategies might help livestock optimally tradeoff the costs and benefits of anti‐predator behavior across timescales (i.e. the risk allocation hypothesis). We discuss the implications of our results for husbandry techniques that might reduce behavioral costs associated with cattle anti‐predator behaviors and help increase tolerance for lions and other large carnivores. These improvements are critical to human–carnivore coexistence given the prevalence of pastoralism globally and the rising potential for conflict with large carnivores such as lions.

中文翻译：

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放牧的牛会害怕非洲的狮子吗？

对食肉动物的恐惧从根本上影响着猎物物种的生态，并推动种间和种内相互作用。广泛的研究已经检查了大型食肉动物捕食风险对野生有蹄类猎物物种行为的影响。但是，许多大型食肉动物不仅会猎捕野生猎物，而且还会淘汰家畜，特别是在畜牧系统中，其中牲畜与大型食肉动物共享土地和资源。坦桑尼亚北部是因牲畜掠夺而引发的人类与食肉动物冲突的热点，非洲狮豹和牧民牛金牛座之间的相互作用尤为严重。在这个生态系统中，我们探索了牧民牛在日常放牧过程中表现出反捕食行为的程度。使用重点动物抽样，我们比较了背景淘汰率高低的乡村牧场中牛的两种典型的反捕食行为：警惕性和成群性。我们发现，高风险乡村牧场的牛群比低风险乡村牧场的牛大21.2％。有趣的是，低风险乡村牧场的牛比高风险乡村牧场的牛警惕时间长68.4％。这些模式在一天中的时间受到了很大的影响：随着日落的临近，低风险乡村牧场的牛要花更多的时间警惕，而高风险乡村牧场的牛则组成更大的群体。这些结果表明，放牧者的牛表现出在空间和时间上都不同的反捕食者策略，并且这种策略可能有助于牲畜在各个时间尺度上最佳权衡反捕食者行为的成本和收益（即风险分配假设）。我们讨论了研究结果对饲养技术的影响，该技术可能会减少与牛反捕食者行为相关的行为成本，并有助于提高对狮子和其他大型食肉动物的耐受性。鉴于全球范围内放牧的普遍性以及与大型食肉动物（如狮子）发生冲突的可能性不断增加，这些改进对于人类与食肉动物的共存至关重要。并且这样的策略可能有助于牲畜跨时间尺度最佳地权衡反捕食者行为的成本和收益（即风险分配假设）。我们讨论了研究结果对饲养技术的影响，该技术可能会减少与牛反捕食者行为相关的行为成本，并有助于提高对狮子和其他大型食肉动物的耐受性。鉴于全球范围内放牧的普遍性以及与大型食肉动物（如狮子）发生冲突的可能性不断增加，这些改进对于人类与食肉动物的共存至关重要。并且这样的策略可以帮助牲畜跨时间尺度最佳权衡反捕食者行为的成本和收益（即风险分配假设）。我们讨论了研究结果对饲养技术的影响，该技术可能会减少与牛反捕食者行为相关的行为成本，并有助于提高对狮子和其他大型食肉动物的耐受性。鉴于全球范围内放牧的普遍性以及与大型食肉动物（如狮子）发生冲突的可能性不断增加，这些改进对于人类与食肉动物的共存至关重要。