A pack hunter or social predator is a predatoryanimal which hunts its prey by working together with other members of its species.[1] Normally animals hunting in this way are closely related, and with the exceptions of chimpanzees where only males normally hunt, all individuals in a family group contribute to hunting. When hunting cooperation is across two or more species, the broader term cooperative hunting is commonly used.
Pack hunting is typically associated with cooperative breeding and its concentration in the Afrotropical realm is a reflection of this.[4] Most pack hunters are found in the southern African savannas, with a notable absence in tropical rainforests and with the exception of the wolf and coyote, higher latitudes.[4] It is thought that either on the ancient and poor soils of the southern African savanna it is not possible for individual predators to find adequate food,[5] or that the environment's inherent unpredictability due to ENSO or IOD events means that in very bad conditions it will not be possible to raise the young necessary to prevent declining populations from adult mortality. It is also argued that Africa's large area of continuous flat and open country, which was even more extensive while rainforest contracted during glacial periods of the Quaternary, may have helped encourage pack hunting to become much more common than on any other continent.[6]
^See McMahon T. A. and Finlayson, B.; Global Runoff: Continental Comparisons of Annual Flows and Peak DischargesISBN3-923381-27-1
^Box, Hilary O.; Gibson, Kathleen R. (editors); Mammalian Social Learning: Comparative and Ecological Perspectives, Issue 72; p. 266. ISBN9780521031950
^Packer C.; Scheel D.; Pusey A.E. (1990). "Why lions form groups: Food is not enough". The American Naturalist. 136: 1–19. doi:10.1086/285079. S2CID85145653.
^Creel, S.; Creel, N. M. (1995). "Communal hunting and pack size in African wild dogs, Lycaon pictus". Animal Behaviour. 50 (5): 1325–1339. doi:10.1016/0003-3472(95)80048-4. S2CID53180378.