Summary predetor and prey interactions - Wildlife ecology and conservation

Predator and prey
15/11/2022 13:14



Types of hunting
• Social
○ Requires social behaviours and/or communication
○ Can hunt much larger prey
○ The reward for food is shared between the group
therefore each individual may receive slightly less
food compared to solitary hunting
○ Need to hunt more often if catching small prey
items
• Solitary
○ High risk, high reward strategy
○ The amount of food per individual may be higher
compared to social hunting however the
expenditure in catching the prey is much higher
○ The risk of prey escaping is also much higher then
social hunting

Hunting strategies
• Pursuit hunting
○ Stalking - following prey until its within strike
distance
○ Endurance/persistence - chasing a prey item until
it is exhausted and can not escape

Both can be social or solitary

○ Lunge feeding - following prey and lunging
capturing many prey items at once.
• Ambush
○ Camouflage - blending into animals surroundings
○ Sit and wait strategy
○ Mimicry - where a predator mimics its prey so that
it can hunt without being detected by prey species
○ Camouflage can aid with stalking and increase
hunting success rate
○ Low energy expenditure however has a low
success rate.
• Ballistic interception
○ Tongue - using a long tongue to capture prey at a
large distance.