Research overview: stalking distance and hunting-habitat selection

An overview of how ambush felids select hunting habitat to minimize the distance over which they must close on prey undetected. Because capture success drops sharply with the length of the final rush, cats favor terrain and vegetation that allow close approach, such as cover, broken ground and ambush sites near water or trails, generating predictable risky locations for prey. This survey synthesizes evidence on stalking distances, the relationship between cover and success, and how prey adjust vigilance and habitat use in response, linking to landscape-of-fear theory. It covers lions, leopards, pumas and tigers and how habitat structure mediates their predation. The topic connects fine-scale hunting behavior to the spatial ecology of predation risk and to where cats most effectively impose mortality on prey.