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. 2023 Nov 29;290(2011):20231390.
doi: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1390. Epub 2023 Nov 29.

Determinants of hyena participation in risky collective action

Tracy M Montgomery  1   2   3   4 , Kenna D S Lehmann  1   5   2 , Samantha Gregg  1 , Kathleen Keyser  1 , Leah E McTigue  1   6 , Jacinta C Beehner  7   8 , Kay E Holekamp  1   2
Affiliations

Determinants of hyena participation in risky collective action

Tracy M Montgomery et al. Proc Biol Sci. .

Abstract

Collective action problems arise when cooperating individuals suffer costs of cooperation, while the benefits of cooperation are received by both cooperators and defectors. We address this problem using data from spotted hyenas fighting with lions. Lions are much larger and kill many hyenas, so these fights require cooperative mobbing by hyenas for them to succeed. We identify factors that predict when hyena groups engage in cooperative fights with lions, which individuals choose to participate and how the benefits of victory are distributed among cooperators and non-cooperators. We find that cooperative mobbing is better predicted by lower costs (no male lions, more hyenas) than higher benefits (need for food). Individual participation is facilitated by social factors, both over the long term (close kin, social bond strength) and the short term (greeting interactions prior to cooperation). Finally, we find some direct benefits of participation: after cooperation, participants were more likely to feed at contested carcasses than non-participants. Overall, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that, when animals face dangerous cooperative dilemmas, selection favours flexible strategies that are sensitive to dynamic factors emerging over multiple time scales.

Keywords: Crocuta crocuta; cooperation; interspecific competition; lions; mobbing; spotted hyenas.

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Conflict of interest statement

We have no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
A group of four hyenas mobbing a lioness. Photos by Brittany Gunther.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Top model of the predicted probability of mobbing occurrence in sessions where lions and hyenas interact (Model A: n sessions = 321). (a). Dots depict coefficient estimates, lines depict 95% confidence intervals, and asterisks depict significance at the following p-values: * = 0.05; ** = 0.01; *** = 0.001. (b–d). Lines (or dots) depict estimated marginal means and shaded areas (or vertical lines) depict 95% confidence intervals. (c,d). ‘Few’ indicates 1 standard deviation below the mean number of hyenas who greet, ‘average’ indicates the mean number of hyenas who greet, and ‘many’ indicates 1 standard deviation above the mean number of hyenas who greet during sessions in this dataset.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Top model of the predicted probability of mobbing participation by all hyenas (Model D: n focal hyenas = 4383; n sessions = 117; n mobs = 342; n unique hyenas = 431). (a). Dots depict coefficient estimates, lines depict 95% confidence intervals, and asterisks depict significance at the following p-values: * = 0.05; ** = 0.01; *** = 0.001. (b). Lines depict estimated marginal means and shaded areas depict 95% confidence intervals.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Top model of the predicted probability of mobbing participation by adult female focal hyenas (Model F: n focal hyenas = 2280; n sessions = 109; n mobs = 323; n unique hyenas = 169). (a). Dots depict coefficient estimates, lines depict 95% confidence intervals, and asterisks depict significance at the following p-values: * = 0.05; ** = 0.01; *** = 0.001. (b–d). Lines (or dots) depict estimated marginal means and shaded areas (or vertical lines) depict 95% confidence intervals. (d). ‘Weak’ indicates 1 standard deviation below the mean association index, ‘average’ indicates the mean association index, and ‘strong’ indicates 1 standard deviation above the mean association index among hyenas in this dataset.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Top model of the predicted probability of mobbing participation by adult male focal hyenas (Model G: n focal hyenas = 893; n sessions = 101; n mobs = 288; n unique hyenas = 124). (a). Dots depict coefficient estimates, lines depict 95% confidence intervals, and asterisks depict significance at the following p-values: * = 0.05; ** = 0.01; *** = 0.001. (b). Lines depict estimated marginal means and shaded areas depict 95% confidence intervals.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Top model of the predicted probability of the focal hyena feeding during the 5 min immediately after a mob (Model K: n focal hyenas = 1049; n sessions = 41; n unique hyenas = 185). (a). Dots depict coefficient estimates, lines depict 95% confidence intervals, and asterisks depict significance at the following p-values: * = 0.05; ** = 0.01; *** = 0.001. (b). Lines (or dots) depict estimated marginal means and shaded areas (or vertical lines) depict 95% confidence intervals.
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