Long-beaked common dolphins circling a sardine baitball

Predator

Predators are creatures that catch and kill other animals for food. All sorts of techniques are employed by different animals to maximise their chance of catching prey, and to balance the energy expended in catching prey with the energy gained in eating it. Some execute long chases, outrunning their prey, others ambush or hunt in groups. Some construct elaborate traps and many have mechanisms for stunning or poisoning their victims.

Watch video clips from past programmes (100 clips)

In order to see this content you need to have an up-to-date version of Flash installed and Javascript turned on.

View all 100 video clips

Animals with this behaviour

Mammals

Birds

Reptiles

Amphibians

Cartilaginous fish

Ray-finned fishes

Lobe-finned fishes

Coelacanths

Cephalopods

Insects

Arachnids

About

In ecology, predation describes a biological interaction where a predator (an organism that is hunting) feeds on its prey (the organism that is attacked). Predators may or may not kill their prey prior to feeding on them, but the act of predation often results in the death of its prey and the eventual absorption of the prey's tissue through consumption. Other categories of consumption are herbivory (eating parts of plants) and detritivory, the consumption of dead organic material (detritus). All these consumption categories fall under the rubric of consumer-resource systems. It can often be difficult to separate various types of feeding behaviors. For example, some parasitic species prey on a host organism and then lay their eggs on it for their offspring to feed on it while it continues to live or on its decaying corpse after it has died. The key characteristic of predation however is the predator's direct impact on the prey population. On the other hand, detritivores simply eat dead organic material arising from the decay of dead individuals and have no direct impact on the "donor" organism(s).

Selective pressures imposed on one another often leads to an evolutionary arms race between prey and predator, resulting in various antipredator adaptations. Ways of classifying predation surveyed here include grouping by trophic level or diet, by specialization, and by the nature of the predator's interaction with prey.

Behaviours

Other Predation strategy behaviours

Find wildlife

BBC News about Predator

Camel spiders are sticky killers Camel spiders have evolved a unique way to stick to and capture their insect prey, high speed video reveals.
Pollution imperils polar bears

Video collections

Take a trip through the natural world with our themed collections of video clips from the natural history archive.

Timelapse photography: speeding up life

Some of the most memorable sequences in natural history result from timelapse photography, an astonishing filming technique that opens our eyes to a whole new world.
This is Planet Earth

With Planet Earth Live hitting our screens, what better way to marvel at the wonders of nature than watching a fantastic collection of video highlights from the original Planet Earth series.
What on Earth...? 2009

Watch the year's highlights from the BBC's exploration of the planet's hidden corners and rarest creatures: from the turquoise seas of the South Pacific to the Lost Land of the Volcano.
Nature's record breakers

Animal kingdom record breakers - how fast can a cheetah run, how heavy is an elephant and what's bigger than a dinosaur? Watch amazing video clips from the BBC archive and uncover the fascinating facts about our smallest primate, the longest stick insect and the most venomous snake.
Jonathan Scott: a wild life in Africa

Jonathan Scott's unique style brings an emotional warmth and depth to the portrayal of African wildlife that has created some of TV's best-loved animal characters.
The wildlife of Life

In autumn 2009, a major new series brought us life as we've never seen it before.
Life in slow motion

Slow motion filming techniques transform amazing wildlife moments into full scale events, and simple action into incredibly detailed video sequences.
George's marvellous minibeasts

A video collection featuring bugs and insects in amazing close up selected by insect expert and TV presenter George McGavin, with Goliath spiders, killer centipedes, ants and moths.
Wild autumn

Autumn - a time of great change, of breathtaking migrations, of high drama.
David Attenborough's favourite moments

Watch the most memorable moments from an incredible career watching wildlife, chosen by Sir David from the BBC archive.