To flee or not to flee: predator avoidance by cheetahs at kills

Hunter, Durant and Caro examined the decisions cheetahs make at carcasses when dominant competitors threaten, quantifying how the presence of lions and hyenas governs whether and when cheetahs abandon their kills. They showed cheetahs feed rapidly and remain vigilant, fleeing readily as competitors approach to avoid both kleptoparasitism and the risk of being killed, with mothers especially cautious. The study detailed the behavioral toll of intraguild pressure on a subordinate cursorial predator, linking vigilance, feeding rate and flight decisions to competitor risk. It is a key reference for understanding how kleptoparasitism shapes cheetah foraging efficiency and why competition with dominant cats and hyenas constrains cheetah populations beyond direct mortality.