Intraguild predation in pinnipeds: Southern sea lions prey upon adult female South American fur seals in the Falkland Islands

Intraguild predation, where a dominant predator kills and consumes a subordinate predator that is a potential competitor, is taxonomically and geographically widespread among mammalian carnivores (Palomares & Caro, 1999; Polis et al., 1989). Perhaps the best examples of intraguild predation in mammalian carnivores are from terrestrial canids, where larger canids such as coyotes (Canis latrans), suppress populations of smaller subordinate sympatric carnivores such as foxes (Lonsinger et al., 2017). Through the study of terrestrial canids, it is well established that intraguild predation can have disproportionate effects on the distribution and abundance of intraguild prey species that can ultimately regulate populations and have a cascading effect on community structure and dynamics (Donadio & Buskirk, 2018; Palomares & Caro, 1999; Polis et al., 1989; Ritchie & Johnson, 2009).

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