Seasonal spatio-temporal coexistence of leopard (Panthera pardus) and brown hyena (Parahyaena brunnea) in the hyper-arid landscape of southern Namibia

Competition and facilitation shape carnivore community structure, exerting top-down effects on subordinate species and prey and influencing spatio-temporal distributions. These dynamics have been widely studied in southern Africa's high-productivity, mesic environments, but remain poorly understood in arid ecosystems, where low predator densities, distinct prey assemblages, and limited resources constrain species occurrence and reshape expected interspecific relationships. In hyper-arid inland Namibia, leopards and brown hyenas co-occur, occupying the apex predator niche left vacant by lions and spotted hyenas. Here, we investigated the pattern of spatio-temporal coexistence between these two competitors, assessing the roles of habitat, prey, and human activity in shaping habitat use and activity patterns. Using two years of camera trapping (71 stations, 533 km² private reserve), we estimated temporal activity patterns and overlap via kernel density functions, and applied multi-species single-season occupancy models to characterize spatio-temporal niches conditional on competitor presence across dry and wet seasons. Temporal overlap remained moderate (dry season: Δ = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.57–0.79; wet season: Δ = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.53–0.82), with different activity rhythms (p < 0.01). Co-occurrence shifted seasonally: leopards and brown hyenas were spatially independent in the dry season but exerted a positive influence on each other's occupancy in the wet season. Prey abundance, distance from water, and topography were the strongest drivers of marginal occupancy. Our findings showed that leopards and brown hyenas may compete for limited resources in hyper-arid environments, coexisting through consistent temporal partitioning, seasonal spatial independence under resource scarcity, and facilitation-driven co-occurrence during productive periods.