Cheetah marking sites are also used by other species for communication: evidence from photographic data in a comparative setup

Abstract Many mammalian species communicate via olfactory communication placed at particular locations. The majority of these studies focused on intraspecific communication. More recently, have also investigated interspecific and recorded prey animals sniffing cues left by predators investigating or counter-marking other predator species. purpose exchanging within a community is little understood. Using comparative study design, we the behaviour cheetah marking trees paired control using camera traps Namibian farmland. We tested predictions derived from hypotheses regarding reasons for visits to trees. Cheetah were visited 1101 times 29 (excluding cheetahs), with more than Two competitively subordinate carnivore made visiting events, respectively, trees, possibly assess time since cheetahs in area. opportunistic scavenger sniffed frequently perhaps feed undigested remains scats. One common had fewer events likely reduce encounters cheetahs. Further, one that rarely preyed marked same frequency as suggesting it uses conspicuous sites rather Thus, used play an important role variety