(click on the image to see large version)
All animals need three things to survive: food, water, and shelter. How they get these things can differ in dramatic ways. Take lions for instance. Not only are lions carnivores, but they are the top predators of the savanna. In a face to face confrontation, few animals can hold their own, much less beat a lion. Yet finding food is not easy for lions. Lions have been around for a long time and most of the animals they prey upon have evolved methods of escape that stack the odds against the lion. A single lion only succeeds in about 15% of its hunts while a pride is successful about 30% of the time.
So how exactly do lions increase their chances at a successful hunt? Like most cats, lions are not good distance runners. They can move quickly, they can not maintain the speed needed to outrace most of their prey. As a result, lions have had to come up with something else. Their solution is cooperative hunting, with the members of the pride working together to bring down prey. In most instances, a hunt begins with 2-3 lions walking in the open towards a herd of zebra (or other prey). In all likelihood, the zebra see them coming and respond in the obvious way. They take off in the other direction. Unfortunately, they are heading into a trap.
The lions in the open are decoys, moving forward with the sole purpose of generating a response. The real threat are the lions hiding along the zebras’ escape route. As zebras pass through this hidden gauntlet they run the risk of becoming dinner. Once an animal is targeted, the entire pride helps to bring it down. Cooperative hunting improves their success rate and lets the pride target larger prey then would normally be possible.
Photographic Tips – How do we use our knowledge of lion hunting to capture better images? In this case, the lesson to remember is that you probably don’t see all of the lions. During a hunt it is easy to focus on the decoys (that is their job after all), but that is rarely where the action happens. Watch for the ambush and be ready to change your focus quickly as the action shifts. Also, don’t waste too much time focussing on the males. Females are the real hunters of the pride.
The lioness pictured above was photographed feeding on a dead wildebeest in Serengeti National Park during one of my African wildlife photo safaris. Unfortunately, we didn’t see the hunt, only the aftermath. The image was created using a Canon 1D mark 2, 500mm IS lens, at 200 ISO. The lens was supported on a beanbag while shooting from a vehicle.
