Research overview: optimal prey size and energetics in big cats

An overview of how energetic costs and benefits shape the prey sizes big cats prefer to hunt. Optimal foraging predicts that predators target prey large enough to yield a high energy return per kill yet not so large that capture risk, handling time and injury outweigh the gain, producing the preferred prey-weight windows observed across felids. This survey synthesizes how prey body mass relates to capture success, energy intake, injury risk and competition over carcasses, and why the largest cats can profitably take larger and more dangerous prey. It connects the prey-preference literature to foraging theory and metabolic constraints, explaining the nested prey-size ranges among co-occurring predators. The topic provides the energetic rationale behind felid prey selection and the body-size scaling of predator-prey relationships.