Research overview: cheetah cub mortality from intraguild predators

A survey of the heavy toll that lions and spotted hyenas take on cheetah cubs, a key demographic constraint on cheetah populations. Studies in the Serengeti and elsewhere have recorded that a large fraction of cheetah cubs die before independence, with predation by lions the leading cause at the den and lair stage. This overview examines how maternal vigilance, den-site selection and avoidance of high-competitor areas influence cub survival, and how the resulting low recruitment shapes cheetah density and conservation prospects. It links intraguild predation theory to population dynamics, illustrating how a dominant felid suppresses a subordinate not only through competition for food but through direct mortality of its offspring, with implications for managing small and fragmented cheetah populations.