GPS collars uncover the true nature of lion and hyena interactions

The long-held image of the spotted hyena as a persistent shadow following lions to scavenge their kills is not supported by movement data. GPS monitoring suggests a reversal of roles: male lions actively track hyenas, while the hyenas spend their energy attempting to maintain a safe distance. For years, zoologists relied on fragmented observations, often dismissing reports of lions hunting hyenas as random encounters. The prevailing narrative cast hyenas as the active pursuers and lions as the passive center of the scavengers' orbit. To test this, ecologist Nancy Barker from the University of KwaZulu-Natal deployed GPS collars on high-ranking individuals across Namibia's Etosha National Park and Botswana's Linyanti and Chobe parks. Over four years, the team tracked 17 lions and 14 hyenas, recording coordinates every five minutes during peak activity hours. This high-resolution data allowed researchers to map thousands of interactions, revealing a clear divergence in movement patterns based on sex and social rank.