Cooperative hunting is a social behavior found in a minority of carnivore species, including African wild dogs, wolves, and lions. This strategy involves coordinated action among group members to locate, pursue, and subdue prey. Although hunting in a group requires sharing the resulting meal, the evolutionary payoffs often outweigh the cost of food division. This behavior is driven by significant advantages in resource acquisition and defense, making it a highly effective survival strategy.
Access to Larger and More Difficult Prey
The most immediate benefit of hunting in a group is the ability to target prey species impossible for a single predator to handle. A solitary lion, for instance, would rarely attempt to take down a healthy, fully grown Cape buffalo, which can weigh over 1,500 pounds. However, a coordinated pride can successfully surround and subdue such massive animals. This group capability expands the carnivore’s dietary niche, granting access to energy-rich food sources unavailable to solitary hunters.
Gray wolf packs use their numbers to overwhelm large ungulates like bison or moose, which possess formidable defenses. Multiple attackers allow the pack to bypass the prey’s size advantage and inflict injuries that a single wolf could not manage alone. Group tactics permit the carnivores to chase the prey long distances until it is exhausted, or to flank it and cut off escape routes. Working together, carnivores secure a massive meal that provides sustenance for the entire group for days.
Improved Hunting Success and Energy Efficiency
Cooperative hunting significantly increases the probability of a successful kill. Studies show that a single lion hunting alone succeeds less than 20% of the time, but this success rate can jump to around 30% when hunting as part of a pride. African wild dogs, which exhibit a high degree of coordination, are among the most successful hunters in the world, with success rates sometimes exceeding 80% of their chases.
This increased success is linked to specialized roles within the hunting group, which minimizes wasted effort. For example, some individuals may act as “drivers,” pushing the prey toward others positioned as “ambushers” or “blockers” along an escape path. This division of labor reduces the overall energy expenditure required per kill for each individual, making the hunt more energetically efficient for the group. A coordinated effort ensures that the energy invested is more likely to yield a caloric return than a solitary chase.
Enhanced Resource Retention and Protection
A successful hunt is only beneficial if the carnivores can consume the meal without losing it to competitors. Cooperative hunting provides a powerful defense against kleptoparasitism, the theft of a kill by other predators or scavengers. The presence of multiple carnivores feeding together acts as a strong deterrent to scavengers like hyenas or jackals.
Wolves, for instance, use their group presence to defend a carcass from competing packs or scavengers like ravens, ensuring they retain a greater share of the meat. For smaller social predators, such as African wild dogs, this group defense is particularly important, as larger animals like lions or spotted hyenas often steal their kills. By remaining together, the group secures its investment, maximizing the nutrition that flows back to the hunters and their young.