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Kiffner, C.; Waltert, M.; Meyer, B.; Mhlenberg, M.
Response of lions (_Panthera leo_ LINNAEUS 1758) and spotted hyaenas (_Crocuta crocuta _ERXLEBEN 1777) to sound playbacks
2008 African Journal of Ecology (46): 223-226
Lure surveys, using playback sounds, have been used to model population sizes for lions and spotted hyaenas and have produced reliable results compared with known population sizes. This method incorporates response probability and range, which are modelled with an independent experiment. Here, we focus on the survey part of this relatively new approach. We investigate whether certain factors (time of playback, phase of the moon, presence of other species) affect the response of carnivores to playbacks. If these factors impair carnivore behaviour, population estimates derived from lure surveys are prone to be biased. Additionally, we tested two critical assumptions of the model of Mills et al. (2001): (i) carnivores are lured from a circular plot and (ii) all lured animals are actually detected. Because we were not able to determine the initial position of the animals during the playback, we indirectly tested these assumptions.
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