Abstract Movement patterns of lions (Panthera leo) reveal how they hunt large herbivores in heterogeneous landscapes such as the Kruger National Park in South Africa. Large herbivores are distributed differently on the landscape and therefore have different vulnerabilities as prey for lions. For instance, blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) occupy small grazing lawns at night but are difficult for lions to capture because open areas lack cover for stalking. African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) aggregate in large herds but are less available because these herds only intermittently enter the home ranges of individual lion prides. Unlike large herds of wildebeest and buffalo, plains zebra (Equus quagga) move widely in small herds while browsing greater kudus (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) and giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa) generally occur in lower densities. We used spatial data derived from GPS collars to investigate several hypotheses regarding the movements of three lion prides in response to their prey. We found that lions were most active and moved longer distances during nighttime than during daytime. Lions remained within their core home ranges on 87% of nights and wandered to the outlying areas of the home ranges every second night. Lions visited grazing lawns, that is, area of short grass, where wildebeest herds resided every second night, and moved toward the direction of buffalo herds within 2 km of vicinity. Lions spent more time near riverbanks that provided dense woody cover at night than expected but concentrated only weakly near sites with surface water where herbivores drank in the dry season. Our study contributes to understanding how lions vary their movements in response to the spatial and temporal heterogeneity in the relative availability and vulnerability of multiple prey species.

中文翻译：

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狮子在夜间​​捕猎时如何移动？

摘要 狮子 (Panthera leo) 的运动模式揭示了它们如何在南非克鲁格国家公园等异质景观中捕猎大型食草动物。大型食草动物在景观上的分布不同，因此作为狮子的猎物具有不同的脆弱性。例如，蓝色角马（Connochaetes taurinus）在夜间占据小草场，但狮子很难捕捉到，因为空旷的地方没有遮盖物可以跟踪。非洲水牛（Syncerus caffer）聚集在大群中，但由于这些牛群只是间歇性地进入个别狮子群的家园范围，因此不太容易获得。与大群的角马和水牛不同，平原斑马 (Equus quagga) 在小群中广泛移动，而大捻角羚 (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) 和长颈鹿 (Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa) 通常以较低的密度出现。我们使用来自 GPS 项圈的空间数据来研究关于三只狮群响应猎物的运动的几个假设。我们发现狮子在夜间​​比白天最活跃并且移动的距离更长。狮子在 87% 的夜晚停留在其核心家园范围内，并且每隔一个晚上就会游荡到家园范围的外围区域。狮子参观了放牧的草坪，即短草区，每隔一个晚上就有牛羚群栖息，并向附近2公里内的水牛群方向移动。狮子在夜间​​提供茂密木质覆盖的河岸附近的时间比预期的要多，但在旱季草食动物饮用的地表水附近仅集中在微弱的地方。我们的研究有助于了解狮子如何根据多种猎物的相对可用性和脆弱性的空间和时间异质性而改变它们的运动。