Instantaneous energetics of puma kills reveal advantage of felid sneak attacks

Abstract

The costs and benefits of stalking and chasing Organisms live under a constant balance between getting and using energy. Large carnivores may feel this balance more acutely because of the large amounts of energy needed to capture and subdue their prey. Williams et al. and Scantlebury et al. used remote measures of physiology and behavior to identify the hunting strategies of the stalking North American puma and the speedy African cheetah (see the Perspective by Laundré). In both cases the cats' hunting strategies are well matched to produce a balance between the energy they spend on the hunt and the energy they acquire from their prey, despite their very different strategies and levels of competition. Science , this issue p. 81 , p. 79 ; see also p. 33