Living in Groups - An Introduction to Behavioural Ecology - page 161

(a)

(b)

Fig. 6.13 Group hunting. When they hunt in a group, (a) spotted hyenas and (b) lions
can successfully attack prey which are larger than themselves. Photo (a) © Hans Kruuk
and (b) © Craig Packer.

Better prey capture
Predators may sometimes improve their ability to capture prey by hunting in a group.
Hans Kruuk (1972) studied spotted hyenas, Crocuta crocuta , in the Serengeti National
Park and Ngorongoro Crater area of Tanzania. He found that solitary hyenas could
easily kill a Thomson's gazelle fawn, which was usually simply picked up from its hiding
place in the grass. However, zebras, Equus burchelli , could defend themselves by biting
and kicking and they showed no fear when a single hyena wandered past. A pack of
hyenas, however, was an entirely different proposition. When hunting zebra, the hyenas
assembled in packs of 10-25 individuals before the hunt (Fig. 6.13a). The zebra group

Hyenas and lions
may benefit from
group hunting