Cooperative hunting in lions: the role of the individual

Recorded the position taken by each identified lioness during hundreds of hunts in Etosha, classifying stalking positions as left wing, right wing or centre, and tested whether individuals occupied consistent positions across hunts.

Studied in

Panthera leo

Sample size

hunts recorded from identified individuals in Etosha

Individual lionesses occupied consistent positions across hunts — some habitually took wing positions and drove prey, others habitually took centre positions and waited — and hunts in which individuals occupied their preferred positions were more successful.

• One population in an open habitat where prey has little cover, which may favour role specialisation more than closed habitats do.
• Position preference is observational; the causal role of position in success is inferred from association.

• Logging which lioness stands where

  When several lionesses hunt together, are they doing the same thing in different places, or different things?

• Cooperative hunting

  Several animals hunting the same prey at once is not cooperation. Cooperation means individuals taking roles that depend on each other — and that is a harder thing to show, demonstrated in far fewer species.