Large carnivore menus: factors affecting hunting decisions by cheetahs in the Serengeti

Predation plays a key role in shaping mammalian communities through prey killed and through the decisions and choices of both predators and prey. We used an extensive data set from observed hunts of a diurnal large African carnivore, the cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus, in combination with analysis techniques originally developed in the field of economics (discrete choice models) to examine predation decisions within the context of the immediate environment and the reproductive and hunger status of individuals. This is one of the first attempts at an integrated understanding of the suite of ecological and behavioural factors that influence hunting decisions in a large carnivore. The decision of a cheetah to hunt or not was influenced by the abundance of their main prey, the reproductive status of the cheetah and the presence of competitors and predators, but not by the hunger level of the cheetah. Given that the decision to hunt is taken, prey choice is then driven by the time of year, the sex of the predator, the abundance of prey and the presence of competitors. We believe that discrete choice models may provide a new step forward in our ability to understand the decisions that animals make in their natural environment.