h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

After seeing many failed attempts of lions trying to catch zebra and waterbuffalo I have come to a conclusion to which I have found no rational answer.
Why don't they hunt at night. The Zebra are asleep for Godsake. Hunt tips. Walk in a straight line until you trip on a dozing quadraped, kill, eat. Are Lions Stupid?

I'll be in the Seregeti in about two weeks time, so I'll ask one

Perhaps the chance of tripping on a dozing crocodile, hippo or elephant puts them off, or perhaps they really are stupid. It's a good point but then if everyone hunted at night then the zebra would probably take to sleeping during the day.

Zebra do not seem to sleep - as far as I can tell, or at least not all of them at once, or like horse flopping onto the ground. Films, using night vision, of the Serengeti show Zebras going about their normal business.
BCNU - Crescent

Lions, unlike tigers, are not stupid enough to get mixed up in Siegfried and Roy's stage act, and therefore I still hold out hope for them...

Hi Niz
I think you will find that it is the LIONESS that does most of the hunting.
Lions are not stupid at all!
They get their females to do all the hard work!
As for the hunting thing, you will find that only roughly 10% of hunts are successful.
This is because the lioness has to select a (hopefully) weak target and then go for that. If she selects the wrong one, then she goes hungry till she can get it right.
OK?

G

To answer any retorte such as, "If they started to hunt as night the Zebra would sleep during the day", I would like to add that all the Zebra would know is that uncle frank (or who ever) had dissapeared during the night as they wouldn't see Clarence eating his supper.

Gandalf, how does the lioness decide which is the weakest target. Does the zebra need to look a little shabby, two many flies around it perhaps, vultures circling overhead, should it be limping ? And after all this careful thought you're telling me that she may chase it and not catch it ! One sick zebra out of a herd of say 200 !!!! Niz, I think Lions AND Lioness' are stupid !

Some predators do hunt at night, or in twilight, but documentaries are usually filmed during the day.
Also, the middle of a pack of frightened, stampeding zebra isn't necessarily a smart place for a predator to be, given the increased risk of injury. An injured predator usually doesn't live long. There's a great deal to be said for scaring a pack from a slight distance, and then closing in on a weak or separated animal. Given a choice between a complete surprise attack and an almost-surprise attack, the wiser predator might take the second option.

Anyway, the logic of hunting is based on a balance between energy expended and energy gained. If, for example, a lion had the option of doubling its success rate by expending three times the energy, it would be better sticking with its current strategy. If it isn't losing weight, it's being successful.

I saw a program last night about creatures (mostly reptiles) that had survived the Great Extinction 65 million years ago. Some lionesses had made a kill at night and were feeding. Unfortunately, crocodiles are also active at night and can smell dead meat miles away. At least 2 crocodiles came ambling up and muscled in. The lions didn't stand a chance.

So, it doesn't matter when a predator makes a kill. On the one hand, if it's daylight the prey has a better chance of seeing and evading the predator. On the other, if it's nighttime, some other nocturnal beastie may come and steal the catch.

Its called the law of the jungle - the survival of the fittest.
Or both!

It has only recently been discovered that lions actually mostly hunt at night, with great success.

So no, they're not stupid. Mother Nature has a way of weeding out the stupid branches of evolution.

Dundonians are, of course, the exception to this rule

oh man... I was getting all excited because my mate Gandalf had posted...and it's an ancient thread

Sorry Sho

no worries...
*snivel*

So does that mean lions hunt at night and lionesses at day, or do they both hunt at night?

I think the lionesses hunt by night and the lions let them

pft, men!

Do you think this means that Lionesses have better hand eye coordination that Lions and can park a car better?
I wonder if male lions worry about the size of their rump...

They cerainly seem to think hairstyles are important