African leopard scent marking: sending messages to and receiving messages from sympatric carnivores

. Here, we sought to determine the potential of manipulating scent marking as a wildlife management tool to deter leopards Panthera pardus. We also aimed to understand the effects of intra- and interspecific olfactory interactions on leopards. We monitored leopard scent marking activity in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve through camera trapping at 43 leopard marking sites (1450 trap nights). We simulated the presence of lions Panthera leo and spotted hyenas Crocuta crocuta by adding freshly collected scats to treatment sites and comparing these with control sites (no scats).本研究旨在探究将气味标记操控作为野生动物管理手段以威慑豹（Panthera pardus）的潜在应用价值，同时阐明种内与种间嗅觉交互对豹的影响效应。研究团队在萨比沙禁猎区（Sabi Sands Game Reserve）的43处豹标记位点布设相机诱捕设备，累计开展1450个诱捕夜的监测工作。本研究通过在处理组位点投放新鲜采集的粪便，模拟狮子（Panthera leo）与斑鬣狗（Crocuta crocuta）的存在，并以未投放粪便的对照组位点开展对照实验。