TY - JOUR

T1 - Effect of ecological and anthropogenic factors on grouping patterns in African lions across Kenya

AU - Chege, Mumbi

AU - Bertola, Laura D.

AU - De Snoo, Geert R.

AU - Ngene, Shadrack

AU - Otieno, Tobias

AU - Amoke, Irene

AU - van 't Zelfde, Maarten

AU - Dolrenry, Stephanie

AU - Broekhuis, Femke

AU - Tamis, Will

AU - De Iongh, Hans H.

AU - Elliot, Nicholas B.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - Social carnivores frequently live in fission–fusion societies, where individuals that share a common territory or home range may be found alone, in subgroups, or altogether. Absolute group size and subgroup size is expected to vary according to resource distribution, but for species that are susceptible to anthropogenic pressures, other factors may be important drivers. African lions (Panthera leo) are the only truly social felid and lion prides are characterized by fission–fusion dynamics with social groups frequently splitting and reforming, and subgroup membership can change continuously and frequently. The number of individuals in a group can be reflective of social, ecological, and anthropogenic conditions. This dynamic behavior makes understanding lion grouping patterns crucial for tailoring conservation measures. The evolution of group living in lions has been the topic of numerous studies, and we drew on these to formulate hypotheses relating to group size and subgroup size variation. Based on data collected from 199 lion groups across eight sites in Kenya, we found that group sizes were smaller when lions were closer to human settlements, suggesting that edge effects are impacting lions at a national scale. Smaller groups were also more likely when they were far from water, and were associated with very low and very high levels of non-tree vegetation. We found significant differences between the study sites, with the Maasai Mara having the largest groups (mean ± SD = 7.7 ± 4.7, range = 1–19), and Amboseli conservation area the smallest (4.3 ± 3.5, range = 1–14). While long-term studies within a single site are well suited to thoroughly differentiate between absolute group size and subgroup size, our study provides unique insight into the correlates of grouping patterns in a vulnerable species at a national scale.

AB - Social carnivores frequently live in fission–fusion societies, where individuals that share a common territory or home range may be found alone, in subgroups, or altogether. Absolute group size and subgroup size is expected to vary according to resource distribution, but for species that are susceptible to anthropogenic pressures, other factors may be important drivers. African lions (Panthera leo) are the only truly social felid and lion prides are characterized by fission–fusion dynamics with social groups frequently splitting and reforming, and subgroup membership can change continuously and frequently. The number of individuals in a group can be reflective of social, ecological, and anthropogenic conditions. This dynamic behavior makes understanding lion grouping patterns crucial for tailoring conservation measures. The evolution of group living in lions has been the topic of numerous studies, and we drew on these to formulate hypotheses relating to group size and subgroup size variation. Based on data collected from 199 lion groups across eight sites in Kenya, we found that group sizes were smaller when lions were closer to human settlements, suggesting that edge effects are impacting lions at a national scale. Smaller groups were also more likely when they were far from water, and were associated with very low and very high levels of non-tree vegetation. We found significant differences between the study sites, with the Maasai Mara having the largest groups (mean ± SD = 7.7 ± 4.7, range = 1–19), and Amboseli conservation area the smallest (4.3 ± 3.5, range = 1–14). While long-term studies within a single site are well suited to thoroughly differentiate between absolute group size and subgroup size, our study provides unique insight into the correlates of grouping patterns in a vulnerable species at a national scale.

KW - African lion

KW - behavior

KW - fission-fusion

KW - group size

KW - Kenya

KW - sociality

U2 - 10.1002/ece3.10982

DO - 10.1002/ece3.10982

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 38362173

AN - SCOPUS:85185671322

VL - 14

JO - Ecology and Evolution

JF - Ecology and Evolution

SN - 2045-7758

IS - 2

M1 - e10982

ER -