feet and the animal sprints away. After another five miles it merges with a herd and slips away. The fifth year trying to run down a pronghorn and after a dozen miles, even running sub-six-minute miles, they lose him. He blames the lack of heat and too many animals. A big herd gives opportunities for them to splinter into smaller groups, then rejoin again. Even if it had been 100 degrees, he probably wouldn’t have been able to separate one from the group. Why it works The hunter chooses a pace they can maintain; the prey animal flees fast to escape a predator animal. The hunter carries water; the prey animal has no water. The hunter follows the hoof tracks of a single individual; the prey animal cannot stay hidden or rest in the herd. African wild dogs African wild dogs have been described as cooperative persistence predators and there's been a popular perception of large packs chasing down large antelope over long distances across open grass plains. More recent observations from a different area, show they hunt opportunistically with short high-speed chases after medium-size prey, and rely on sharing kills. The problem of heat dissipation may limit prey animals more than African wild dogs. On hotter days, successful chases were shorter. Temperature differences did not seem to influence the dawn and dusk pattern of wild dog hunts; instead, the relevant factors may include light conditions and the need to avoid scavengers. See also Tracking (hunting) Endurance running hypothesis References Hunting methods History of hunting Human evolution Behavioral ecology Predation