In
ecology
,
predation
describes a relationship and actions between two creatures. A
predator
catches, attacks, and eats its
prey
.
[1]
Predators may or may not kill their prey before eating them. But the act of predation always causes the death of its prey and taking in the prey's body parts into the predators body. A true predator can be thought of as one which both kills and eats another animal, but many animals act as both predator and
scavenger
.
A
predator
is an
animal
that
hunts
, catches, and eats other animals. For example, a
spider
eating a fly caught at its web is a predator, or a pack of
lions
eating a buffalo. The animals that the predator hunts are called
prey
. Predators mostly do not eat other predators.
[2]
[3]
[4]
It has also been suggested that they know it may transmit disease.
[5]
A
top predator
or
apex predator
is one that is not the prey of other predators.
Predators are usually
carnivores
(meat-eaters) or
omnivores
(eats plants and other animals). Predators will hunt other animals for
food
. Examples of predators are
hawks
,
eagles
,
falcons
,
cats
,
crocodiles
,
snakes
,
raptors
,
wolves
,
killer whales
,
lobsters
,
lions
, and
sharks
.
Ambush predator
change
Ambush predators
or
sit-and-wait predators
are
carnivorous animals
or other organisms, such as some
carnivorous plants
. They capture or trap prey by stealth or strategy (not conscious strategy), rather than just by speed or strength.
These organisms usually hide quiet and wait for prey to come within striking distance. They often are
camouflaged
, and may be solitary. This may be safer for the predator, because lying in wait exposes it less to its own predators.
When a predator cannot move faster than its preferred prey,
ambushing
its prey is likely to be more efficient than pursuit. A predator that can move at high speed for a long time can be a pursuit predator, chasing until its prey tires and slows. There are however many intermediate strategies; for example when a pursuit predator is faster than its prey over a short distance, but not in a long chase, then either
stalking
or ambushing becomes part of the strategy.
[6]
Related pages
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