Editing Predation (section)

===Solitary versus social predation===
{{See also|Cooperative hunting}}

In social predation, a group of predators cooperates to kill prey. This makes it possible to kill creatures larger than those they could overpower singly; for example, [[hyena]]s, and [[Wolf|wolves]] collaborate to catch and kill herbivores as large as buffalo, and lions even hunt elephants.<ref name="LangFarine2017">{{cite journal |last1=Lang |first1=Stephen D. J. |last2=Farine |first2=Damien R. |title=A multidimensional framework for studying social predation strategies |journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution |volume=1 |issue=9 |year=2017 |pages=1230–1239 |doi=10.1038/s41559-017-0245-0 |pmid=29046557 |bibcode=2017NatEE...1.1230L |url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:379eff38-903d-45d9-a19b-ccc01a114e9e }}</ref><ref name="MacNulty2014">{{cite journal |last1=MacNulty |first1=Daniel R. |last2=Tallian |first2=Aimee |last3=Stahler |first3=Daniel R. |last4=Smith |first4=Douglas W. | editor-last=Sueur | editor-first=Cédric |title=Influence of Group Size on the Success of Wolves Hunting Bison |journal=PLOS ONE|volume=9 |issue=11 | date=12 November 2014 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0112884 |pmid=25389760 |pmc=4229308 | page=e112884|bibcode=2014PLoSO...9k2884M |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Power |first1=R. John |last2=Shem Compion |first2=R.X. |title=Lion Predation on Elephants in the Savuti, Chobe National Park, Botswana |journal=African Zoology |date=April 2009 |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=36–44 |doi=10.3377/004.044.0104 }}</ref> It can also make prey more readily available through strategies like flushing of prey and herding it into a smaller area. For example, when mixed flocks of birds forage, the birds in front flush out insects that are caught by the birds behind. [[Spinner dolphin]]s form a circle around a school of fish and move inwards, concentrating the fish by a factor of 200.<ref name=Beauchamp2012>{{harvnb|Beauchamp|2012|pages=7–12}}</ref> By hunting socially [[Common chimpanzee|chimpanzee]]s can catch [[colobus monkey]]s that would readily escape an individual hunter, while cooperating [[Harris hawk]]s can trap rabbits.<ref name="LangFarine2017"/><ref name=Dawson1988>{{cite thesis |last1=Dawson |first1=James W. |title=The cooperative breeding system of the Harris' Hawk in Arizona |hdl=10150/276864 |date=1988 |degree=Masters }}{{pn|date=July 2024}}</ref>

[[File:Journal.pone.0112884.g001 a.png|thumb|upright=2.3|center|[[Wolf|Wolves]], [[social predator]]s, cooperate to hunt and kill [[bison]].]]

Predators of different species sometimes cooperate to catch prey. In [[coral reefs]], when fish such as the [[grouper]] and [[coral trout]] spot prey that is inaccessible to them, they signal to [[Giant moray|giant moray eels]], [[Humphead wrasse|Napoleon wrasses]] or [[octopus]]es. These predators are able to access small crevices and flush out the prey.<ref name=Vail2013>{{cite journal |last1=Vail |first1=Alexander L. |last2=Manica |first2=Andrea |last3=Bshary |first3=Redouan |title=Referential gestures in fish collaborative hunting |journal=Nature Communications |date=23 April 2013 |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=1765 |doi=10.1038/ncomms2781|pmid=23612306 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2013NatCo...4.1765V }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Yong |first1=Ed |title=Groupers Use Gestures to Recruit Morays For Hunting Team-Ups |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2013/04/24/groupers-use-gestures-to-recruit-morays-for-hunting-team-ups/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917215312/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2013/04/24/groupers-use-gestures-to-recruit-morays-for-hunting-team-ups/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 September 2018 |access-date=17 September 2018 |work=National Geographic |date=24 April 2013}}</ref> [[Killer whale]]s have been known to help whalers hunt [[baleen whale]]s.<ref name=eden>{{cite AV media|people=Toft, Klaus (Producer) |date=2007 |url=http://shop.abc.net.au/browse/product.asp?productid=743192 |title=Killers in Eden (DVD documentary) |publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090812231151/http://shop.abc.net.au/browse/product.asp?productid=743192 |archive-date=12 August 2009 }} ISBN R-105732-9.</ref>

Social hunting allows predators to tackle a wider range of prey, but at the risk of competition for the captured food. Solitary predators have more chance of eating what they catch, at the price of increased expenditure of energy to catch it, and increased risk that the prey will escape.<ref name="BryceWilmers2017"/><ref name="MajerHolm2018">{{cite journal |last1=Majer |first1=Marija |last2=Holm |first2=Christina |last3=Lubin |first3=Yael |last4=Bilde |first4=Trine |title=Cooperative foraging expands dietary niche but does not offset intra-group competition for resources in social spiders|journal=Scientific Reports |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=11828 |year=2018 |doi=10.1038/s41598-018-30199-x|pmid=30087391 |pmc=6081395 |bibcode=2018NatSR...811828M }}</ref> Ambush predators are often solitary to reduce the risk of becoming prey themselves.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ambush Predators |url=https://sibleynaturecenter.org/photo-essays/ambush-predators |website=Sibley Nature Center |access-date=17 September 2018 |language=en |archive-date=2 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802002919/https://sibleynaturecenter.org/photo-essays/ambush-predators |url-status=dead }}</ref> Of 245 terrestrial members of the [[Carnivora]] (the group that includes the cats, dogs, and bears), 177 are solitary; and 35 of the 37 [[Felidae|wild cats]] are solitary,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Elbroch |first1=L. Mark |last2=Quigley |first2=Howard |title=Social interactions in a solitary carnivore |journal=Current Zoology |volume=63 |issue=4 |date=10 July 2016 |pages=357–362 |doi=10.1093/cz/zow080|pmid=29491995 |pmc=5804185 }}</ref> including the cougar and cheetah.<ref name="BryceWilmers2017">{{cite journal |last1=Bryce |first1=Caleb M. |last2=Wilmers |first2=Christopher C. |last3=Williams |first3=Terrie M. |title=Energetics and evasion dynamics of large predators and prey: pumas vs. hounds |journal=PeerJ |volume=5 |year=2017 |pages=e3701 |doi=10.7717/peerj.3701|pmid=28828280 |pmc=5563439 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=LaffertyKuris2002/> However, the solitary cougar does allow other cougars to share in a kill,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Quenqua |first1=Douglas |title=Solitary Pumas Turn Out to Be Mountain Lions Who Lunch |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/11/science/pumas-solitary-social.html?hpw&rref=science&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well |access-date=17 September 2018 |work=The New York Times |date=11 October 2017 |language=en}}</ref> and the [[coyote]] can be either solitary or social.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Flores |first1=Dan |title=Coyote America : a natural and supernatural history |date=2016 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-0465052998}}</ref> Other solitary predators include the northern pike,<ref name="StowNyqvist2012">{{cite journal |last1=Stow |first1=Adam |last2=Nyqvist |first2=Marina J. |last3=Gozlan |first3=Rodolphe E. |last4=Cucherousset |first4=Julien |last5=Britton |first5=J. Robert |title=Behavioural Syndrome in a Solitary Predator Is Independent of Body Size and Growth Rate |journal=PLOS ONE|volume=7 |issue=2 |year=2012 |pages=e31619 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0031619|pmid=22363687 |pmc=3282768 |bibcode=2012PLoSO...731619N |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[wolf spider]]s and all the thousands of species of [[solitary wasp]]s among arthropods,<ref>{{cite web |title=How do Spiders Hunt? |url=https://www.amnh.org/explore/news-blogs/on-exhibit-posts/how-do-spiders-hunt/ |publisher=American Museum of Natural History |access-date=5 September 2018 |date=25 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="WeselohHare2009">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Weseloh |first1=Ronald M. |title=Encyclopedia of Insects |last2=Hare |first2=J. Daniel |edition=Second |year=2009 |pages=837–839 |doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-374144-8.00219-8|isbn=9780123741448 |chapter=Predation/Predatory Insects }}</ref> and many [[microorganism]]s and [[zooplankton]].<ref name=VelicerMendes-Soares2007>{{cite journal |last1=Velicer |first1=Gregory J. |last2=Mendes-Soares |first2=Helena |title=Bacterial predators |journal=Cell |date=2007 |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=R55–R56 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2008.10.043 |pmid=19174136 |s2cid=5432036 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Zooplankton |date=17 June 2018 |url=http://marinebio.org/oceans/zooplankton/ |publisher=MarineBio Conservation Society |access-date=5 September 2018}}</ref>