Leopard distribution and abundance is unaffected by interference competition with lions

Competition can have profound impacts on the structure and function of ecological communities. Despite this, the population-level effects of intraguild competition on large carnivores remain largely unknown, due to a paucity of long-term studies that focus simultaneously on competing species. Here, we comprehensively examine competitive interactions, including their demographic consequences, between 2 top predators, lions Panthera leo and leopards P. pardus. We tested the hypothesis that lions, as the dominant competitor, limit the distribution and abundance of leopards, using dietary, spatial, and life-history data collected concurrently on the 2 species. Dietary overlap between lions and leopards was limited, with lions targeting large- to very large-sized prey and leopards small- to medium-sized prey. Leopards did not actively avoid lions, either predictively or reactively, except in riparian woodland where the likelihood of encountering lions was highest. Lions accounted for more th...