Marion Valeix

Research & Expertise

Permanent CNRS researcher based in Montpellier, France, at the CEFE (Centre for Evolutionary and Functional Ecology) where I am head of the MAD team (https://www.cefe.cnrs.fr/fr/recherche/bc/dpb). My research activities are anchored in community ecology, behavioural ecology, spatial ecology and conservation ecology, and aim at understanding the networks of interspecific interactions in communities of African large mammals. I am particularly interested in predator-prey interactions, intraguild carnivore interactions, interactions between elephants and other large herbivores, and the interaction between scavenging and active hunting. I study the role of these interactions in the functioning of communities of African large mammals. Ultimately, I try to understand how human practices (e.g. water management) and climate changes shape these networks of interactions. My research is mostly empirical (behavioural observations, biologging, camera trapping, and field experiments) and I am lucky to work in 2 amazing study sites:

- Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, where I have worked for 25 years. The long-term collaborative research on this socio-ecosystem has led to the emergence of a CNRS ‘Zone Atelier’ (Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research site; https://www.za-hwange.cnrs.fr/, which I direct since 2024. Currently, I am studying the role of elephant carcasses on the foraging behaviour of spotted hyaenas and lions, and the consequences for large herbivore populations (ANR “collaborative research” PULSATION project). I strongly collaborate with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) of Oxford University.

- Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, South Africa, where I develop research projects, in collaboration with Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife Scientific Services on the role of climatic and environmental conditions on predator-prey interactions in general, and on the hunting success of African large carnivores in particular (ANR "young researcher" FUTURE-PRED project).

I am very happy and privileged to be a Research Associate to Nelson Mandela University, at Rehabs, since 2022.