The Masai Mara ecosystem, a vast expanse of savanna grasslands in Kenya, is a globally recognized biodiversity hotspot. This environment hosts a seemingly paradoxical situation where two highly competitive apex predators, the lion and the cheetah, not only coexist but thrive. While overlapping resource needs typically lead to intense conflict, the Mara’s immense prey base and varied landscape provide specific mechanisms to minimize direct competition. Lions and cheetahs share the same territory by utilizing differing diets, specialized landscape use, and distinct behavioral strategies.
Resource Partitioning Through Prey Selection
Lions and cheetahs reduce direct competition by focusing on different prey types, known as resource partitioning. Lions are social hunters operating in prides and typically target larger, heavier prey species. Their preferred prey often falls within the 92 to 632 kilogram range, including adult wildebeest, zebras, and buffalo. Lions hunt cooperatively, allowing them to take down animals too formidable for a single predator.
Cheetahs are largely solitary hunters or hunt in small male coalitions, specializing in smaller, swifter ungulates. Their preferred prey mass is significantly smaller, often below 60 kilograms, focusing on species like Thomson’s gazelles and smaller antelopes. Their hunting strategy relies on a burst of speed, unsuited for the sustained attack needed to bring down a large adult zebra. This difference in target size ensures their food sources do not overlap.
Research confirms this dietary separation, although some overlap exists, especially among male cheetah coalitions that sometimes take down larger prey. Cheetahs also frequently prey on the younger, more vulnerable classes of larger species, such as neonates and juveniles of wildebeest or zebra. This focus on smaller or younger individuals, rather than the large adults targeted by lions, supports their continued coexistence.
Specialized Habitat Use and Landscape Separation
The two species utilize the vast landscape of the Mara in distinct ways, creating spatial separation. Lions prefer areas that offer dense cover, suitable for their ambush hunting style and for concealing their pride and cubs. This preference leads them to riverine thickets, rocky outcrops known as kopjes, and patches of dense scrub. These habitats provide shade for resting and concealment for launching surprise attacks.
Cheetahs rely on their explosive speed and sight, making them specialized hunters of open plains and grasslands. Their hunting success is tied to the ability to see prey from a distance and execute a high-speed chase. While cheetahs sometimes use semi-closed habitats for refuge, they consistently select for sites with more open habitat. The Mara’s mosaic of habitats ensures both species have sufficient distinct territories.
The Greater Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem is extensive. This spatial partitioning is not absolute, but differing habitat preferences mean the distribution of lions and cheetahs is non-random, reducing the probability of an encounter. Cheetahs are often found in areas less frequented by lions, especially edges between open and semi-closed habitat, used for hunting and concealment.
Behavioral Strategies for Conflict Avoidance
The relationship between lions and cheetahs is one of dominance, as lions pose a significant threat to cheetah survival. Lions readily kill cheetah adults and cubs, viewing them as competitors, and frequently steal cheetah kills. Cheetahs have evolved specific behavioral strategies to actively avoid encounters with the larger predators.
Cheetahs employ fine-scale spatiotemporal avoidance, adjusting movements based on the perceived risk of a lion encounter. They actively move away from areas where they detect lion presence, such as by hearing vocalizations. This response is due to the risk of being killed and the severe loss of resources through kleptoparasitism.
Cheetahs often hunt during different times of the day than lions, who are typically more active at night or during cooler parts of the day. Cheetahs are highly diurnal, hunting in the early morning or late afternoon. They quickly abandon a kill if lions or hyenas approach. This risk-averse behavior minimizes interference competition and allows the cheetah population to persist.