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Lions are social animals. By hunting together, they can go
after bigger game. Bigger game means more food for
everyone. (Lions don't think about ecological advantages,
they just like to eat!) The typical prey animal that is
taken by lions is in the 250 pound (112.5 Kg.) range, but
much larger game (Such as buffalo) is hunted when
conditions permit. (In the Savuti National Park in
Botswana, adult elephants and hippos are occasionally
taken.) Prey species more commonly taken include zebra,
wildebeest, gazelles, antelope and waterbuck. Lions will
also hunt smaller animals, when they are hungry and
nothing bigger is available. Even crocodiles are
occasionally hunted.
Lions are also expert scavengers, and obtain as much as 40
percent of their food by stealing it from other predators,
or finding already dead animals.
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Although they are the largest,
lions are by no means the best hunters in their ecosystem.
(Cheetahs are probably the best.) They do not do simple things
that solitary predators tend to do, like keep the wind before
them. Instead, lions survive because there is so much food
available around them, and they tend to hunt in groups. Even
their impact on prey populations is smaller than might be
suspected. About one in fifteen of any given popular prey
animal will become a lion meal in a given year. This isn't
even enough to significantly control population growth! On
average, a single lion will kill 15-20 large herbivores a
year.
Hunting is done most frequently in the evening, or early
morning. Much hunting is also done at night. The moonless part
of the night is preferred for hunting. Less hunting is done
during the day, due to the heat, and better chances of being
spotted by the prey. Lions do hunt during the day, and their
best statistical chance of a single animal making a kill is
when they stumble across a lone prey animal who is caught by
surprise.
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