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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Mostly, the tracked spotted hyenas moved away from lions—not toward them. A 2026 study of four years of GPS data from two southern African ecosystems found a repeatable retreat pattern in hyenas. It did not find a general population-level tendency for lions to approach hyenas, although the small sample of collared males showed a suggestive approach pattern. The results describe movement during sampled encounters, not every interaction between the species.
What did four years of GPS data show?
The 2026 study, published in Frontiers in Ethology, examined lion and spotted hyena movements in Etosha National Park, Namibia, and the Chobe–Linyanti system in Botswana. Its central finding was asymmetric: spotted hyenas consistently showed movement away from lions, while the data did not establish a uniform lion movement bias toward hyenas.
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The researchers tracked 17 lions and 14 spotted hyenas over a four-year period. For the interspecies analysis, they compared simultaneous GPS fixes from 10 lion–hyena dyads. Movement at concurrent time steps was classified as toward, away from, or orthogonal to the paired animal. The study used real simultaneous fixes for these dyadic comparisons rather than model-imputed positions. The publisher describes five-minute fixes during peak activity periods and thousands of analyzed interactions. Read the 2026 study; see also Frontiers’ report on the findings.
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“Four years” refers to the dataset’s tracking period, not complete records from every animal for every day. Some collar records were incomplete, some individuals had satellite-only data, and the encounter analysis depended on the smaller subset of concurrent fixes.
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Do hyenas follow lions for scavenging opportunities?
They may do so in some circumstances, but this study does not support the idea that following lions is the default movement pattern in the sampled encounters. Across three inferential approaches, the researchers found evidence that hyenas moved away from lions, including across distances up to the cumulative 10-kilometer threshold they examined.
That finding does not mean hyenas never track lions, scavenge from lion kills, or approach lions. The study measured movement geometry in paired, concurrent GPS observations; it did not catalogue every scavenging event or all forms of interaction. Its result revises a simple picture of hyenas routinely shadowing lions, rather than ruling out that behavior.
Do lions follow hyenas?
The evidence for lion approach is weaker and more specific than the hyena retreat result. None of the study’s three population-level inferential approaches established that lions generally moved toward hyenas. All three male-lion dyads showed directional approach, but those dyads represented only two unique collared male lions. The authors say a larger male sample is needed to test whether the apparent sex difference is real.
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallFemale lions showed more variable responses in the sampled encounters, with the publisher’s account noting that responses could depend on other pride members. The paper did not establish a statistically significant sex effect. It is therefore accurate to describe male approach as a pattern in a small sample, not a rule for lions as a species.
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How to read the findings by species
| Animal or comparison | Observed movement pattern | What the evidence supports |
|---|---|---|
| Spotted hyenas relative to lions | Movement away | Repeatable result supported across three inferential approaches and distances up to the study’s cumulative 10-kilometer threshold. |
| Lions relative to hyenas | No uniform population-level approach bias established | The analysis does not show that lions generally approach hyenas. |
| Male lions relative to hyenas | Approach in all three sampled male-lion dyads | Suggestive only: the dyads included two unique collared males, too few to establish a general sex-specific rule. |
| Female lions relative to hyenas | More variable responses in the sample | The model did not establish a significant sex effect; pride context may matter. |
What the within-species comparisons add
The study also compared animals with members of their own species. Some Etosha lion pairs showed close-range coordination associated with mating or pride relationships. In the four sampled hyena–hyena dyads, the researchers recorded no concurrent five-minute fixes closer than one kilometer. That is a finding about those collared animals and observations, not a universal minimum spacing between hyenas or clans.
The Chobe–Linyanti data could not resolve the same close-range within-pride coordination patterns seen in Etosha, because of collar-data limitations and the composition of the sampled pairs. The two ecosystems therefore do not support equally detailed conclusions about every kind of group coordination.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the direction of movement matters—and what remains unknown
Lions and spotted hyenas overlap in diet, habitat, and activity, and they compete. Earlier work discussed in the primary paper describes lions displacing hyenas at carcasses, lion-caused hyena mortality, and spatial or temporal separation. Against that background, knowing which animal tends to yield during an encounter helps clarify one part of the competition: the immediate movement response.
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It does not establish what that response means for survival, reproduction, or long-term territory use. The authors identify whether encounter avoidance scales up to long-term space use and demography as an open question. The study’s interspecies analysis also rests on a small, partly reused set of individuals: three unique hyenas and eight unique lions contributed, including just two unique collared males to the three male-lion dyads.
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A 2023 PLOS ONE paper, “Coursing hyenas and stalking lions”, examined four years of collar data in two ecosystems for space use, activity, and potential interactions. It provides background on the broader research program, but it is not the source of the 2026 study’s specific finding about approach and retreat.
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