<p>Large predators often prey on animals larger than themselves.

Unlike animals
that feed on plants, this can lead to a large expenditure of energy. These large
predators must balance the amount of energy they spend seeking and catching
prey with the amount that is earned by consuming that animal (Laundr, 2014).
Scantlebury et al. and Williams et al. published papers on the way cheetahs and
pumas regulate energy expenditure. These papers compared the two hunting styles
of pumas and cheetahs. Pumas wait for long periods of time for their prey to come
to them, whereas cheetahs will chase their prey (Laundr, 2014). Unlike their
colleagues, these researchers used special methods to track energy expenditure
throughout the different stages of hunting. Williams et al. used SMART (species
movement acceleration and radio tracking) which was a collar that could
differentiate between these different hunting stages. </P>
<p>The results showed that seeking prey is more energetically taxing than
catching it, because it lasts longer than the chase (Scantlebury et al., 2014;
Williams et al., 2014). Williams et al. found that pumas, in particular, will decide to
spend more energy on a prey if that prey is more beneficial to them; they would not
spend much energy trying to catch small prey. Overall, both papers found that in
the pumas hunting approach, energy is reduced during the seeking of prey. In the
cheetahs hunting style, they must minimize time spent active. In both cases,
human activity and kleptoparasitism increases the amount of energy spent by both
predators. </p>
<P> Laundr J. 2014. How large predators manage the cost of hunting. Science.
6205 (346): 33-34. </P>
<P> Scantlebury D et al. 2014. Flexible energetics of cheetah hunting strategies
provide resistance against kleptoparasitism Science. 346, 79 </P>
<P> Williams T et al.2014. Instantaneous energetics of puma kills reveal advantage
of felid sneak attacks. Science. 346, 81. </p>