RE: Gangs, packs, etc.

[John Bois <jbois@umd5.umd.edu>]

On Fri, 14 May 1999, Nathan Myhrvold wrote:

> -  Pack hunting by mammals is not supported by hard data.  If it exists, it
> does not effect hunting success, which is very hard to explain.  Most
> likely, so called cooperative pack hunting is really just gang hunting -
> simple piling on.

Well, how about "pack" or cooperative foraging by Toque macaques of Sri
Lanka.  They spread out through a forest looking for ephemerally fruiting
trees.  The trees bear lots of fruit--too much for one monkey--and when a
monkey finds a fruiting tree it makes a special call.  The other monkeys
respond and the entire troop--mostly related individuals-- feeds.
Wolfgang Dittus has described this communal behavior.