Multimedia Gallery
Prey Response to Predation
A pair of lions prey on a zebra in the Olkiramatian Shompole Community Conservation Area of Kenya's South Rift Valley.
This photo was taken during field research by Scott Creel, a professor of ecology at Montana State University, to determine how much antipredator behavior costs and what it means to future populations of prey species. Creel's research takes place on the Shompole and Olkiramatian Maasai group ranches in the South Rift Valley of Kenya. Working with the local Maasai authorities, Creel is examining interactions between lions, spotted hyenas and their prey; the effects on small- and medium-sized carnivores; and interactions with people and cattle inside and outside of a community conservation area. This research is testing the generality of conclusions from a second research project of Creel's, the wolf-elk project, where he has been studying the responses of elk to variation in the risk of predation by wolves at several locations within the Gallatin Canyon bordering Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. To learn more about Creel's research, visit his website Here. [Research supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.] (Date of Image: 2009)
Credit: Scott Creel
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