IntroductionAn animal needs to be able to spot and catch prey, defend their prey against other predators and protect itself, in order to ensure an animal's survival a kind of group is then formed. All social animals belong to a kind of unit examples of these are a pack (wolf), pride (lions), and convocation (eagle). These groups are created not only for offensive purposes but for defensive purposes as well; I will be discussing the offensive side of this. Cooperative hunting requires a group of social animals; the size depends on the species of animal. This concept has many benefits; the chance of predators trying to prey on them is a lot less and killing their prey will be much easier ...view middle of the document...
As you can see many tactics are used and work quiet effectively if used well.The Wolf PackAs an Apex hunter (top of the food chain) the Wolf can eat almost any prey it wants, but still has the endangerment of being killed. They travel, live and hunt in a group competing with coyotes and bears along their travels, the pack sizes vary depending on territory but on an average include 6 or 7 wolves. However during their hunting expeditions they tend to be very unsuccessful hunters, only catching about 17% of their prey (they are considered high risk, low reward hunters for going after dangerous prey). The cores of these packs are a mated pair of wolves called the Alpha male and female, they play a vital role in leading the pack. While hunting wolves use their superior sense of smell combined with excellent hearing abilities to seek out vulnerable prey. While close to prey the Alpha male's tale goes up when prey is near, this signals all of the wolves to keep quiet. During this tense moment body language and facial expressions are used to communicate during hunting, for setting up flanks among other things. They either stalk or ambush their prey, often pouncing on it from behind primarily aiming for the prey's jugular while mounting its front paws on its shoulders. They are also very territorial, if another pack trespasses into their territory a fight will surely break out. During the summer this group hunting is not executed, instead the wolves prefer to hunt in pairs; their primary food sources include deer, elk and caribou. Though the wolf is a very strong and agile animal, there numbers are declining due to humans hunting them and lack of food.The Lion PrideLiving deep in the grasslands of the Sahara in Africa, the Lion pride lives in its own territory that it has claimed. A typical pride consists of up to 13 lions, but the size differs depending on the amount of territory held. Also most if not all of the hunting is d...
