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This video shows cooperative hunting having a mutual benefit in moray eels. This was an advantageous hunting strategy for them because it improved their success rate of catching prey animals. The moral eels cooperatively hunted with grouper fish, which resulted in them catching around 5 times more prey than when hunting alone. Cooperative hunting is a skillful behavior by making it easier to outnumber and kill prey, and also by making it possible to kill larger prey. This behavior has a high success rate because of its ability to increase an individual’s fitness, provide a better defense against predators, and improve the group’s efficiency.

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The Badger & the Coyote—Cooperative Hunting

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Cooperative hunting is a behavior that is rarely seen in animals, but is associated with an increase in their overall fitness. There are several different advantages of cooperative hunting that lead to this increase in fitness. In order to better understand this behavior, scientists in Denmark conducted a behavioral analysis study through observation of harbor porpoise from video recordings taken by a drone. The findings from this study show that harbor porpoise are more likely to participate in cooperative hunting, than hunt independently. They have a higher tendency to cooperatively hunt because this way they exert much less energy on foraging for a food source. This increases their efficiency when hunting for a food source as a group. When the harbor porpoise hunted as a group, it increased their likelihood of the hunt being successful.

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The other primary reason why animals engage in cooperative hunting is the social aspect that the activity brings. A research paper titled "The Evolution of Cooperative Hunting" studied the social aspects of cooperative hunting behavior and what situations animals use this behavior in. Over the course of the study, groups of hyenas, wolves, lions, and many other animals were observed to determine the root cause of cooperative hunting in these groups. The researchers found that some animals hunt in groups as a means of moving up in the social hierarchy of their respective groups. Low ranking hyenas for example will participate in hunts with higher ranking members of the group in hopes that they will be the one to land the killing blow on the prey. If the low ranking hyena succeeds in this, they will sometimes give their portion of the spoils to the high ranking hyenas to get on their good sides and possibly move up in the social hierarchy. Based on this study it is safe to assume that social factors in animal groups can be just as major of an influence in cooperative hunting behavior as food related factors are.

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The first and most obvious reason behind why cooperative hunting has evolved in species is that it allows for a greater and more reliable access to food. Hunting in groups allows for larger prey and more numerous prey to be hunted when compared to hunting alone. In addition to these benefits, cooperative hunting also ensures that when a prey is finally caught and killed, it will be protected from other animals that would otherwise try to steal it from a single hunter. For most solitary animals, this is the primary reason why they practice cooperative hunting. Even if an animal reaps no social benefits from cooperative hunting, the food benefits are more than enough to justify partaking in it.

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Cooperative hunting is an efficient strategy because there are many advantages that come with it. It is very advantageous in group living situations especially, by providing inclusive fitness benefits to the group members. Research has shown that the main advantages of cooperative hunting are the social benefits, a stronger defense against predators, and higher levels of efficiency within the cooperating individuals. In this Padlet I will go more into depth about the advantages that come with cooperative hunting.

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Similar Characteristics with Communication and Group size with Cooperative Hunting. 

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Similar Characteristics with Communication and Group size with Cooperative Hunting. 

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Two other species that have common characteristics are surprisingly African Wild dogs and Orcas.  One similar cooperative hunting characteristic is hunting with large group sizes. Both species engage in collective hunting, which enables them to kill greater prey than they could accomplish on their own. Killer whales hunt in pods of up to 40 people, whereas African wild dogs form packs of up to 20 people (Creel & Creel, 2002; Ford & Ellis, 1999).  Another similar characteristic is communication. As we all know, African Wild dogs communicate a lot  and so do orcas as well. Killer whales and African wild dogs both employ vocalizations and other types of communication to coordinate their hunting activities. While killer whales use echolocation to find food as well as communicate with other members of the pod, African wild canines employ a range of vocalizations to achieve the same (Baird, 2000; Creel & Creel, 2002). With these strategies, they can communicate when they are trying to take down large game and minimize industry within their hunting groups. Overall the similarities of these species' cooperative hunting patterns just show how good and successful hunters they are. These species overall believe that there is strength in numbers, and everyone is good for a certain job.

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At its simplest level, cooperative hunting is the act of 2 or more animals working together to hunt down prey. This practice is most common in social animals that live in groups, however some solidary animals also practice cooperative hunting despite living on their own. In this section I will explain the primary reasons behind why cooperative hunting has evolved in species and why animals continue to do it.

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Similar Characteristics with Cooperative Hunting Strategies between Species including Job Assignments.  

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Similar Characteristics with Cooperative Hunting Strategies between Species including Job Assignments.  

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Similar cooperative hunting techniques are used by wolves and lions, including task sharing, ambushes, and pursuing prey across considerable distances. Wolves in a hunting pack would frequently assign jobs to people depending on their skills, claims Mech (1970). For instance, while some wolves wait in ambush positions, others may hunt their prey across large distances. Wolves are able to capture prey more successfully than they could on their own thanks to this division of work. Similarly to this, Schaller (1972) explains how lions in pride may cooperate to pursue huge prey, including zebras and wildebeest. Some lions will ambush their prey, while others will pursue it across considerable distances. Once the prey is seized, the lions work together to kill it.

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- Cooperative hunting. Cooperative Hunting - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2023, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/cooperative-hunting
- Mech, L. D. (1970). The wolf: The ecology and behavior of an endangered species. University of Minnesota Press.
- Schaller, G. B. (1972). The Serengeti lion: A study of predator-prey relations. University of Chicago Press.
-Creel, S., & Creel, N. M. (2002). The African wild dog: Behavior, ecology, and conservation. Princeton University Press.
-Ford, J. K. B., & Ellis, G. M. (1999). Transients: Mammal-hunting killer whales of British Columbia, Washington, and Southeastern Alaska. UBC Press.
-Packer, C., & Ruttan, L. (1988). The evolution of cooperative hunting. The American Naturalist, 132(2), 159–198. https://doi.org/10.1086/284844
-Citation: Lührs, M.-L., & Dammhahn, M. (2009). An unusual case of cooperative hunting in a solitary carnivore. Journal of Ethology, 28(2), 379–383. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-009-0190-8

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Another animal that partakes in cooperative hunting is the lion. The lion is known as the team player of the big cat group due to their advanced ability to work together for things like hunting. Their strategy when it comes to hunting is to use this team work but also to use their environment to their advantage. An article written by Loarie, et al. discusses how lions tend to hunt bigger prey more often when there is a mix of grass and wooded cover. This is likely due to the fact that it provides cover while stalking prey but still a good view of their targets for when they are ready to attack. If the lion is in an environment that has less ideal vegetation, it is likely they will back off and reassess to find a better location for a hunt, bringing them a better chance of success. This strategy is highly evolved and helps with energy management as well because they only hunt when they have the best chances of success. There is a video attached to explain the hunting strategy of lions in more depth. Start the video at 2:22 (although the whole video is interesting!)

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How a Lion Pride Hunts Prey | Cat Attack-tics

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The advanced hunting strategy of a dolphin - The Wonder of Animals: Episode 9 - BBC Four

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An interesting thing about social hunting behavior is how very similar animals from the same species but in different locations will have very similar hunting strategies that are used in different ways to tend to the elements. For example, Pacific White Sided dolphins tend to forage on the deep scattering layer but nocturnally compared to the dusky dolphins in British Columbia who forage on schools of fish during the day. Both groups forage groups socially, just in different ways based on their surroundings/what works. Dolphins also use their highly complex brain to use echolocation to hunt these fish. Attached is a video explaining a dolphin's hunting strategy. The beginning of the video is background info on dolphins and after 1:26 it talks about the hunting strategy they use!

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Cooperative hunting in general is a strategy animals use to generate a food source in a group or 2 or more. Typically this is a strategy that allows for bigger or more prey to be caught, as well as potentially less energy spent on the hunt. Due to the fact that all animals are different, their hunting strategies will all differ as well. Despite this, there are some common strategies that are recurring among different categories of animals that I will further discuss in this section of the Padlet, specifically looking at both foraging and hunting.

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Characteristics of Species in Cooperative Hunting

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Characteristics of Species in Cooperative Hunting

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In this Padlet, we will start with a little introduction video with some extra background information. Below that, you will find information on the following topics:
1. How/why cooperative hunting evolved
2. Cooperative hunting strategies
3. Advantages of cooperative hunting
4. Characteristics of cooperative hunting
After, we will wrap it up with a little conclusion video with our sources listed.

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Our topics that we will be covering in our Padlet are:
1. How/why cooperative hunting evolved
2. Cooperative hunting strategies
3.Advantages of cooperative hunting
4. Characteristics of cooperative hunting species

Plan for completing the Padlet:
Our plan for completing the Padlet is to assign each group member a subtopic to cover under the cooperative hunting umbrella to cover all aspects of cooperative hunting.

Outline for each group members work:
Nolan - Cover topic 1
Megan - Cover topic 2
Kyra - Cover topic 3
Jacob - Cover topic 4

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Contributor:Jacob Alibri

The relationship between lion hunting behavior and vegetation structure in an African savanna is examined in the study "Lion hunting behavior and vegetation structure in an African savanna" by the authors Scott, Craig, and Gregory. The authors seek to ascertain whether the structure of the vegetation affects lion hunting behavior and whether some plant types offer better hunting grounds for lions. On a private game reserve in South Africa, the authors tracked lion movements using GPS collars and observed their hunting behavior over a two-year period. They also examined the reserve's vegetation structure using field observations and satellite data. The study indicated that lions prefer to hunt in places with a mix of grass and wooded cover and that they are more likely to do so in regions with less vegetative cover. This predilection might be explained by the fact that these places offer good cover for stalking prey and permit a clear view of possible targets. The more cover their is for lions to hunt the better the chances of them getting prey are. The researchers come to the conclusion that the management of vegetation in game reserves may have an impact on the success of lion hunting and that vegetation structure has a significant effect in lion hunting behavior. They do admit that more investigation is necessary to completely comprehend the complexity of lion hunting behavior and how it relates to vegetation structure. In general, the article offers insightful information about the connection between lion hunting behavior and vegetation structure. The authors' methodical approach to analyzing this association is made possible by the use of GPS collars and satellite data. To extend these findings to other locations, however, more research is required as the study was restricted to a single game reserve. The authors also failed to take into account other elements like prey availability and competition with other predators that can affect lion hunting behavior. As a result, even if the study provides insightful information, its conclusions should be carefully reviewed in light of other studies on lion hunting behavior.
Loarie, S. R., Tambling, C. J., & Asner, G. P. (2013). Lion hunting behavior and vegetation structure in an African savanna. Animal Behaviour, 85(5), 899–906. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.01.018

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Our group chose the topic of cooperative hunting because we are all interested in understanding the way animals are able to work together to find food. The topic is quite broad which allows us to narrow it down into our specific focuses including different species and how they differentiate in their methods, among other things which we will discuss in more detail throughout the Padlet.

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Cooperation and Opportunism in Galapagos Sea Lion hunting for shoaling fish

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Cooperation and Opportunism in Galapagos Sea Lion hunting for shoaling fish

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Contributor: Megan Miron

The researchers in this article were studying cooperation and opportunism in Galapagos sea lions that hunt shoaling fish. It was observed that the sea lions had a core group that would lead the hunt, around 4-6, with opportunistic sea lions joining in near the end, usually 1-4. This core group usually includes females and opportunists are not apart of the main group. Their hunting strategy is to form a line, swim in zigzags, and lead the fish to a cove where they would be trapped. It is interesting that this species does this as they typically hunt alone when not utilizing this method. The researchers were able to learn this strategy by observing from the shore and taking pictures to further analyze afterwards. This was extremely helpful as they were able to gather much more information than if they had done this observational study without recording anything. It would have been beneficial to have used a wider scope lens as it would add precision to the animal count. They concluded that the core hunters of the group have a way of communicating about the goal prior to beginning the hunt, due to the fact that their movements are so synchronized. This study effectively proves that this species does cooperate, but it also brings up a lot of questions for future studies. One of the biggest questions I have now is how do these animals communicate with each other to be able to accomplish this shared goal? I also wonder what the social structure of sea lions is and who gets to be in this “core group” that gets all the fish.

Citation: De Roy, T., Espinoza, E. R., & Trillmich, F. (2021). Cooperation and opportunism in Galapagos sea lion hunting for shoaling fish. Ecology and Evolution, 11, 9206– 9216. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7807

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References

Torres Ortiz, S., Stedt, J., Midtiby, H. S., Egemose, H. D., & Wahlberg, M. (2021). Group hunting in harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 99(6), 511–520. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2020-0289

Contributor: Kyra Lockwood

Researchers studied if harbor porpoises exhibit collaborative hunting behaviors when they are cooperating with one another. Collaborative hunting is a cooperative act that is very rarely seen in animals, yet it is associated with an increase in overall fitness. While collaborative hunting, one porpoises' actions are complementary to the other porpoises’ actions in order to improve the group’s success of feeding off of the prey resource. Previous research shows that animals who participate in cooperative hunting often have advanced cognitive abilities and social skills. The researchers in this study collected visual observations of harbor porpoises during their foraging events by using UAS, which is a type of drone. They hypothesized that most of the porpoises’ foraging events will occur with individual animals, and that foraging events with more than one animal will show unorganized behavior with no evidence of a structure between individuals. The results showed that group foraging events were much more common than individual foraging events in the porpoises. The group foraging data found that harbor porpoises hunt in groups significantly more often than they hunt individually. Observations reflected that when they foraged on a group of fish, the hunting strategy differed based on if they were by themselves or hunting within a group. This evidence shows that porpoise engages in collaborative hunting behavior which increases their fitness.

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Contributor: Nolan Southgate

Researchers investigated what caused cooperative hunting to evolve in solitary animals. The researchers hypothesized going into the investigation that cooperative hunting behavior was either the cause of sociality in animals or a consequence of it. The researchers gathered data primarily on cooperative hunting in fossas in the Kirindy Forest in Madagascar. The primary way data was collected in this study was through observation of a fossas hunt.The observation was made during the dry season in Madagascar (May - October) where droughts in both food and water are common. Researchers found that although fossas are usually solitary outside of their breeding season, they will hunt together during the drought season to boost their chances of success on a hunt. The researchers observed one hunt where three fossas hunted a group of sifakas. The fossas worked together in their hunt by using a strategy where the fossas would chase a sifaka into a tree and one fossa would chase the sifaka into the tree while the other two fossas waited at the bottom of the tree to catch the sifaka when it tried to flee. During the feeding time after the hunt, the fossas took turns feeding on the corpse of the sifaka with no disputes between them. After the feeding was done, the three fossas left together to either continue to hunt or make their way back to their beds for the night. From this observation the researchers concluded that cooperative hunting may have evolved as a result of necessity in hunting particularly agile or large prey. A solitary animal may have trouble hunting an animal that is larger or faster than it so cooperative hunting evolved out of necessity for that.  Alternatively, the researchers also came up with the hypothesis that cooperative hunting evolved from the need to protect a territory from predators. For example, a single fossa would be unable to defend a territory from predators or competing species that would be looking to steal the hunting grounds of the territory, but a group of fossas would be able to defend a territory and ensure a safe, stable hunting ground to get food in. This research is helpful in advancing our understanding of how cooperative hunting has evolved by offering two explanations for why the behavior exists. However this study was only done on a small number of hunts by one species of animal and therefore may not necessarily apply to other species that partake in cooperative hunting. Further studies into other species would have to be conducted to create a strong hypothesis for why cooperative hunting behaviors exist and how they evolved.

Citation: Lührs, M.-L., & Dammhahn, M. (2009). An unusual case of cooperative hunting in a solitary carnivore. Journal of Ethology, 28(2), 379–383. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-009-0190-8