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Communal Hunting in African Wild dogs

Communal Hunting in African Wild dogs. Creel & Creel Kay, Nathan, and Sarah. Former Studies. Natural selection will select for strategies that maximizes foraging Theory: Communal foraging favors sociality does so by increasing prey size or increasing hunting success

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Communal Hunting in African Wild dogs

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  1. Communal Hunting in African Wild dogs • Creel & Creel • Kay, Nathan, and Sarah

  2. Former Studies • Natural selection will select for strategies that maximizes foraging • Theory: Communal foraging favors sociality • does so by increasing prey size or increasing hunting success • Inclusion of hunting costs affects prediction for optimal hunting group size

  3. However.... • The larger the group, the more foraging needed • Sharing of food within a communal group can lead to a total decrease in daily food intake even when hunting success and prey size increases Studies variable: • Hyenas and Lions: group hunting more successful than solitary • Etosha Lions: only group operating under optimality theory • Cheetahs: solitary hunting more successful

  4. Methods • Study area: 2600 km sq. • One dog per 25 km sq • With dependents included, one dog per 17 km sq. • 6 wild dog packs observed • 1991-1994

  5. Methods • 404 kills and 905 complete hunts observed • Yearlings and pups considered dependents, not a member of the hunting pack • Definition of terms

  6. Results

  7. Foraging Success & Pack Size • Favors larger size groups • Supports communal hunting favors sociality

  8. Foraging Success & Pack Size • To maximize need to be in smallest groups

  9. Foraging Success & Pack Size • Packs as large as possible

  10. Foraging Success & Pack Size • Intermediate pack sizes (12-14)

  11. Discussion • These results coincide with studies of other wild dog populations • These results can be generalized to the species • Confound: other studies have small samples

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