Comments on How do I realistically keep my large mammalian predator hidden from other pack hunters.
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How do I realistically keep my large mammalian predator hidden from other pack hunters.
What coloration pattern/ technique could a large mammalian predator employ to evade detection from other mammalian predators at 100 -> 20 meter distances (or close enough so that it could sprint into them, and run away).
In my world building scenario there exists what essentially amounts to a Giant Hyena. This animal has the following characteristics:
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It's 3000kg
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It hunts mostly solo
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It has amazing sense of hearing and smell (but otherwise not particularly spectacular eyesight)
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It is "smart" however you want to take that.
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It gets its food from scaring away other scavengers from opportunistic meals
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It has massive neck and jaw muscles
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It also gets food from tracking pack hunters, figuring out the size of the group from a long distance away using its advanced sense of hearing and smell, then using its powerful jaws to pick one of the animals off and run away with it
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It lives in what is essentially the African Savannah and slightly wetter places. So it would prey on other Hyenas, Painted dogs, and Lions.
In order to sneak up on pack predators, it needs to be able to get in close enough undetected, so at the right moment it can pick up one of the pack members and sprint away with a meal. I don't need something that works 100% of the time, just enough that it won't go extinct because of the failure rates.
Changing the environment to a degree is acceptable.
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Idea 1
Everyone needs water. Your Giant Hyena frequents watering holes and waits for prey to arrive. Maybe it camoflages itself with mud or lurks underneath the surface of the water. Once a target is sufficiently close it snaps its neck out and chomps them.
If the predator is intelligent it may even be able to predict the movement of packs of other hunters; perhaps it uses vibrations to sense where herds of prey animals are and therefore where the non-apex predators are likely to congregate?
Look up videos of crocodiles for a similar water-predator strategy. You will likely need to justify a) whatever weird evolution sent this mammal aquatic and b) why it targets predators over prey - as Olin points out this is relatively weird behavior for various "real world" reasons.
Idea 2
The "Giant Hyena" is simply a normal hyena (or other predatory species) with giantism, enhanced senses, and cannibalistic tendencies. Insert genetic mumbo-jumbo here. It therefore lives as part of a standard hyena (or other) pack. It uses its size to bully other scavengers from carcasses but turns on its own mates when food becomes scarce. Once sated it will attempt to track and join another group of predators, if successful the cycle repeats.
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