A Proposed Ethogram of Large-Carnivore Predatory Behavior, Exemplified by the Wolf

• Published in: Journal of Mammalogy
• Main Authors: MacNulty, Daniel R., Mech, L. David, Smith, Douglas W.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 2007
• Subjects: Feature Articles; Canis lupus; Bison bison bison
• Online Access: http://jmammal.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/88/3/595; https://doi.org/10.1644/06-MAMM-A-119R1.1

Although predatory behavior is traditionally described by a basic ethogram composed of 3 phases (search, pursue, and capture), behavioral studies of large terrestrial carnivores generally use the concept of a “hunt” to classify and measure foraging. This approach is problematic because there is no consensus on what behaviors constitute a hunt. We therefore examined how the basic ethogram could be used as a common framework for classifying large-carnivore behavior. We used >2,150 h of observed wolf ( Canis lupus ) behavior in Yellowstone National Park, including 517 and 134 encounters with elk ( Cervus elaphus ) and American bison ( Bison bison ), respectively, to demonstrate the functional importance of several frequently described, but rarely quantified, patterns of large-carnivore behavior not explicitly described by the basic ethogram (approaching, watching, and attacking groups). To account for these additionally important behaviors we propose a modified form of the basic ethogram (search, approach, watch, attack-group, attack-individual, and capture). We tested the applicability of this ethogram by comparing it to 31 previous classifications and descriptions involving 7 other species and 5 other wolf populations. Close correspondence among studies suggests that this ethogram may provide a generally useful scheme for classifying large-carnivore predatory behavior that is behaviorally less ambiguous than the concept of a hunt.