Question: Why do some animals live alone and others form societies? Which is more profitable?

Sean Murphy answered on 22 Mar 2012:

Good question. The success of living alone vs in a group depends on the environment and they type of animal.

Some animals live alone because it is easier to find food and shelter for themselves in rough climates. Cheetahs and leopards in the Savannah live alone because feeding one leopard takes 50 pounds of meat every few days to live. There hunting styles are also not suited for group hunting. If they changed there hunting style they would compete with outer hunters, like the lion. other animals like the rhinoceros is a solitary animal because there is not enough resources for more then one adult animal in a given area. That is why many animals have territories were they feed and live where no other animals of the same species lives except during breeding season.

Those animals that live in groups tend to do so for one or more of the following reasons:

1) “Safety in numbers” In a large herd, a predator can only take a few individuals. By staying with others of their own kind, each animal is lowering its personal odds of being chosen. Also, there are more eyes watching for predators. This is part of the reason why birds form mixed foraging flocks.

2) “It takes a village” Many animals group together to raise their young. For some, this is a subset of #1 above – if all the young are being born at the same time and place, each individual’s risk of being prey is lower. For others, it is a way to pool resources, with adults sharing the protection, defense or feeding of the young. In many bird species, young birds live with their parents in family groups for a season or two before trying to mate on their own – they use this time to learn parenting skills, and their contributions to nestling care increases their parents’ success as well.

3) Greater success in finding, killing or defending prey items. Wolves are actually more successful as lone hunters than in a pack, but cannot defend their kills from bears and even ravens when they are alone. This was a fascinating recent study on why some predators hunt in groups even when they are more successful as single predators.

4) Very large ranges make finding mates difficult. Some animals live together in small groups because finding one another across large territories with low population densities is difficult.