Instantaneous energetics of puma kills reveal advantage of felid sneak attacks

Williams and colleagues built custom SMART collars combining GPS, accelerometers, and physiological calibration to measure, for the first time, the moment-to-moment energy expenditure of wild pumas as they hunted. By calibrating accelerometer signals against oxygen consumption in trained captive cougars, they converted field acceleration into metabolic cost. The data showed that pumas modulate the power of their pounce to the size of their prey and rely on stealthy approach rather than prolonged pursuit, a sneak-attack strategy that minimizes energetic cost while maximizing kill success. The study was a landmark in carnivore energetics, demonstrating how biologging can quantify the hidden economics of predation. It reframed mountain lion hunting as a finely tuned balance of effort, risk, and reward.