Activity Overlap and Sharing of Den Sites in Spotted Hyenas, Warthogs and Aardvarks

ABSTRACT

Many species depend upon dens and yet it remains poorly understood how or whether dens are shared, particularly within predator–prey relationships. Here, we document overlapping use of the same den locations by common warthogs, spotted hyenas and aardvarks using camera traps in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda and discuss potential ecological drivers. Species partitioned use primarily temporally, yet warthogs and hyenas frequently returned to the same dens on consecutive days and were recorded in close proximity during overlap periods. These observations indicate tolerance of shared den sites at the surface. We propose seismic monitoring as a non-invasive approach to resolve species-specific underground den use beyond camera-based observations.