African Wild Dogs Sharing Kill With The Pack Are More Efficient Than Cheetahs

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An impala escapes from African wild dogs. Leanne van der Weyde

Instead of chasing their prey across long distances in open grass plains, African wild dogs are hunting in wooded areas using multiple short-distance, high-speed bursts. Data from GPS collars reveal that their individual success rates are low, but they share their kills with other pack members: The energy return from group feeding outweighs the cost of multiple short chases. And in this way, their strategy may be more efficient than the sheer athleticism of cheetahs hunting alone in the same area.