Scent-marking sites may facilitate interspecific information gathering and could help to minimise the risk of encounter with interspecific competitors. Recent evidence from South Africa shows that cheetahs avoid dominant predators at scent-marking sites, which may delay or inhibit intraspecific communication in cheetahs. However, little is known on whether this pattern of avoidance occurs elsewhere in the cheetah's range. We analysed a 9-year camera trap data set from north-central Namibia to explore interspecific use of marking sites by cheetahs and leopards. We documented frequent sharing of marking sites, which was likely facilitated through temporal segregation and by availability of alternative sites that were species-specific. We did not identify a stronger avoidance response of cheetahs to leopards than to conspecifics, suggesting that delayed communication by cheetahs resulting from predator avoidance may be limited in our study area. Seasonality affected patterns of marking site visitation, which may be attributed to behavioural changes in relation to reproduction or resource availability, or to differential detectability of olfactory cues among seasons. We recommend further research to better understand carnivore scent-marking, including behavioural responses to olfactory cues and environmental conditions, as well as intra- and interpopulation differences.

中文翻译：

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纳米比亚中北部猎豹和豹子气味标记点的时空共享和划分

气味标记站点可以促进种间信息收集，并有助于将遇到种间竞争者的风险降至最低。来自南非的最新证据表明，猎豹在气味标记地点避开主要捕食者，这可能会延迟或抑制猎豹的种内交流。然而，对于这种回避模式是否发生在猎豹范围内的其他地方，我们知之甚少。我们分析了来自纳米比亚中北部的 9 年相机陷阱数据集，以探索猎豹和豹子对标记点的种间使用。我们记录了标记站点的频繁共享，这可能是通过时间隔离和特定物种的替代站点的可用性来促进的。我们没有发现猎豹对豹子的回避反应比对同种动物更强烈，这表明猎豹因躲避捕食者而导致的延迟交流可能在我们的研究区域受到限制。季节性影响标记站点访问的模式，这可能归因于与繁殖或资源可用性相关的行为变化，或季节之间嗅觉线索的不同可检测性。我们建议进一步研究以更好地了解食肉动物的气味标记，包括对嗅觉线索和环境条件的行为反应，以及种群内和种群间的差异。或季节之间嗅觉线索的差异可检测性。我们建议进一步研究以更好地了解食肉动物的气味标记，包括对嗅觉线索和环境条件的行为反应，以及种群内和种群间的差异。或季节之间嗅觉线索的差异可检测性。我们建议进一步研究以更好地了解食肉动物的气味标记，包括对嗅觉线索和环境条件的行为反应，以及种群内和种群间的差异。