Foraging behaviour and hunting success of lions in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Van Orsdol provided detailed measurements of lion hunting success in Uganda, relating capture rates to prey species, group size, habitat cover and time of day. He found that success was higher at night and in cover that allowed close approach, and that cooperative hunting improved capture of larger prey, while solitary hunts sufficed for smaller, vulnerable individuals. The study quantified how environmental conditions and prey type govern the outcome of stalks and rushes, contributing baseline hunting-success statistics for lions outside the Serengeti. It remains a frequently cited reference on the determinants of felid hunting success and on how habitat structure mediates the effectiveness of ambush predation by lions.