BEHAVIOUR DILEMMA: ROLE OF PREDATION RISK IN ANIMAL DECISION-MAKING WHEN FORAGING

Abstract

Predation has long been thought to have had a significant selective role in the evolution of a number of animal morphological and behavioural traits. Although predation's significance in evolutionary time is obvious, growing evidence indicates that animals possess the ability to assess and behaviourally control their risk of being preyed upon in ecological time. An animal might not get a meal one day and be hungry, or it might not find a mate and have little success reproducing, but over the course of a lifetime, these shortfalls may not have much of an impact on fitness. However, few failures are as cruel as failing to escape a predator because getting killed significantly reduces future fitness. Therefore, this review focuses on how animals' foraging decisions are impacted by the risk of predation. This review explores and brings together findings from a wide range of studies to show how predation risk influences foraging behaviour across different species and ecological contexts. Foragers can lower their individual risk of predation in the presence of predation hazards by implementing a variety of antipredatory behavioural strategies, such as becoming more vigilant, joining a larger group, changing their food choices, mobbing predators, finding sanctuary, or fleeing totally.