Why Being Prey Is Better Than Being a Predator
Video Overview & Insights
#Evolution #Animals #Wildlife
If you had to be an animal other than a human, which would you be???
When people imagine the animal kingdom, they usually want to be the predator.
The lion. The wolf. The shark.
Humans are the best and smarts pretators: we hunt down everyting of corse Pretators have hard times to compet when we are around. The mass of pray we kill every year for food is enormous considering what a small fractur of humans are acctually killing for food
Powerful, feared, and sitting at the top of the food chain.
But what if being prey is actually the better evolutionary strategy?
What about the omniiivorreeeee
In this video, we break down one of nature's most surprising realities: predators often live harder, riskier lives than the animals they hunt. From the brutal mathematics of the energy pyramid to the explosive reproductive success of rabbits, deer, and countless other prey species, the evidence suggests that evolution doesn't necessarily reward dominance—it rewards survival.
Why are there billions of prey animals but only a tiny number of apex predators? Why do predators struggle to recover from environmental changes while prey species often bounce back rapidly? And why have some of history's most formidable hunters disappeared while their prey survived?
You are conflating individuals with species. The "if you had to design an animal from scratch" concept at the end says a species living millions of years is better. But as an individual, what matters is the quality of life of each independent animal. I would choose the animal with longest lifespan and lowest risk of death at any given point rather than the species that lasts millions of years.
We'll explore the hidden advantages of being prey, including faster reproduction, greater resilience, lower energy demands, and a strategy that has allowed many species to thrive for millions of years.
Because in nature, the goal isn't to be feared.
Your solar energy idea doesn't actually make sense...
30 kilos of grass contains less energy than a 300 gram lamb chop.
The goal is to endure.
Drop your thoughts in the comments below: if you could design the perfect animal for long-term evolutionary success, would you choose to be a predator or prey?
Травоядные тоже убивают себе подобных
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Predators propaganda
SOURCES
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Population success doesn’t mean the individual animal has a good quality of life
PREDATOR HUNTING SUCCESS RATES
▸ Schaller, G. B. (1972). The Serengeti Lion: A Study of Predator-Prey Relations. University of Chicago Press.
Predators don't get farmed though
▸ Stander, P. E. (1992). Cooperative Hunting in Lions: The Role of the Individual. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 29(6), 445–454.
ENERGY PYRAMIDS AND TROPHIC LEVELS
High risk high reward
It’s not called the range of Wall Street is it now
▸ Lindeman, R. L. (1942). The Trophic-Dynamic Aspect of Ecology. Ecology, 23(4), 399–417.
▸ Odum, E. P., & Barrett, G. W. (2005). Fundamentals of Ecology. Thomson Brooks/Cole.
Okay, then, I'll pick a buffalo, but definitely not a rabbit
POPULATION ECOLOGY AND REPRODUCTIVE STRATEGIES
▸ Pianka, E. R. (1970). On r- and K-Selection. The American Naturalist, 104(940), 592–597.
And then there are humans, predators at the top of the food chain, with a population of 8 billion, capable of transforming the earth. Yeah, I think it’s better to be a predator.
▸ Begon, M., Townsend, C. R., & Harper, J. L. (2006). Ecology: From Individuals to Ecosystems.
PREDATOR DECLINES AND HUMAN IMPACT
It's billionaires vs common people
Predator vs prey
Predator are lower number still control the mass while prey large number still lives in fear of Predator.
I think the laws of nature are themselves very biased 😔
Sadly unjust is everywhere
▸ Ripple, W. J., et al. (2014). Status and Ecological Effects of the World's Largest Carnivores. Science, 343(6167).
▸ International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List Assessments.
Glory be to Allah, the Creator.
PREY ADAPTATION AND URBAN SUCCESS
▸ McKinney, M. L. (2006). Urbanization as a Major Cause of Biotic Homogenization. Biological Conservation, 127(3), 247–260.
3:05 I know that bears can also live off from berries and don’t necessarily need to hunt fish etc but I still find it comical how the bear is placed next to all this prey
▸ Lowry, H., Lill, A., & Wong, B. B. M. (2013). Behavioural Responses of Wildlife to Urban Environments. Biological Reviews, 88(3), 537–549.
#Evolution #PredatorVsPrey #Wildlife #Biology #Animals
News flash WE ARE PREDATORS! We would never have evolved to be as smart as we are, since big brains require commensurately large energy expenditures, without a ready supply of protein, fats, and myriad other nutrients.
More User Perspectives
Hunting has to be hard. If a predator is able to easily pick it's prey, the prey is extinct soon, the predator have nothing more to eat and is extinct as well. We have no way to know how many extinc species in the past had past this process, but it presumably occured several times.
@raquelpardal5343Bro predators are very less in population compared to prey because several thousands of them were killed by hunters in the earlier centuries. Also a large predator base would not be able to survive.
@AkshitChauhan-i4kU right but who has more aura?
@HumaninventoryI’d just be a crocodile because they don’t move much and the prey will come to me thinking I’m a rock or something and hopefully I can go to Florida because there’s always gonna be that one dumb human jumping into a lake that has posted sighs telling them not to and never coming out again.
@TylorHansonOk but if I’m a bear then I can eat pretty much anything from plants to fish well being stronger than most animals on planet. If I’m a wolf then I have an entire pack to feed me protect me and I’d team up with crows who would see the pray and take me to it.
@TylorHansonFine, i will be a fvcking elephant
@xtremegamer96Why be a predator when you can be human?
@PotatoMan007Cockroaches win!
@JOHNROBERTS-tt3feOk cool. Of a fish lays 1 million eggs. How high do you think your chances are at surviving?
@Leon-eq6eiLiving 3years as a king without fearing anyone is far better than living 30 years by fearing get attacked by others... Iykyk
@AfreedPrsnlBuddha once says "Great power comes with great responsibility"
@K.R_MonyIs there a single monkey that is a predator?
@kamilklepacki1283we are the pinnacle of apex predators
@freestyle17Instructions unclear, going to be a dragonfly because they're a predator with a 99% success rate on hunts.
@MilesprowerthegamerIt's better to be an omnivore... 🍓🌿🍖🍗🍇🥬🫛🍳
@I-am-RosalinaAs the pinnacle of predators (human) I find this video extremely wrong
@JoselitoBurritoWe (humans) kill threats and kill for food. Some kill for sport. Predatory (animals) kill food sustenance.
@jamesbrock5784Lion's one day of life is better than Zebra's 100 years of life 😅
@muhammadsafeernawaz7915why not do both?
@anton_gavrilovIt’s a no brainer being a predator. I’ve seen some of the absolutely brain fuckingly disgusting deaths of prey animals in the wilderness. It is so cruel. Most of their life is probably fine but the end of it is basically always fucked. Predators don’t kill prey before they eat them, they usually eat them alive through the tenderest areas, and I’m sure you can figure out where that is.. predator vs predator fights are more cutthroat and end up in a quicker death rather than being eaten alive through your asshole.
@xvvxvvxvvx4804Norway has about 5m population due to historically being land poor for agriculture. Bangladesh has 167m people despite their territory being half on Norway due to having a rich arable land. Does that mean it historically sucked to be a Norwegian, according to your logic?
@MbogaTatuHerbivores also possess superior physical abilities such as endurance, faster recovery from wounds, and enhanced senses.
@SenseijouOhh that's the reason why All people are assholes. We are predators. They are fighting for territory
@DayZDadsThis is why lions should domesticate zebras like humans did with cows.
@frozenman82When you think about it, predators evolved from anti-social assholes who didn’t think the food that literally grows on trees was good enough for them.
@drksideofthewalWell. That's only true if you pick some shit predator like a wolf, tiger or lion.
Be an orca.
Throw fish up in the air for shits and giggles. Hang out with the boys and wear a fish hat. Go pretend to be a motor boat cause fuck it. Eat whenever you want. Scare some sharks just to show them they suck.
Apex predators initiate "trophic cascades." They control herbivore and mesopredator populations, which prevents overgrazing and biodiversity loss. Without them, ecosystems can collapse.
@abefordtasonLike if u dont like preds
@Jyungin_12Herbee-vores 😊😊 lol.. nice
@javjerseyPrey animals do fight each other too. Deer and giraffes love a good fight. They're not usually fatal, though. The male that lost the fight will have lower breeding success that season, but they'll have another chance next breeding season.
@hogwater"Evolution does not care about-"
You guys just replaced "God" by "Evolution" and "Salvation" by "carry on the genes". There is no "Evolution", that is just an abstraction of a conjuction of some supposed statistical tendencies. Also, the "best" of all biologically is simply being a fyqking bacteria, which I think none is going to dare say is "cool" or whatever. You guys need to either join a religion or become absolute nihilists, because trying to find meaning in the raw materia is not going to get you anywhere.
Tamen, malo fame mori quam vivus devorari.
@dimitryrusu4022La proie est plus faible
Comme
Le chrétien aussi
( Mais a là fin c'est plus la proie qui gagne)
Bonne morale 😁🤌🏿
You really stripped almost all of your credibility when you mentioned Cattle numbers lol… humans have bred them, that’s not part of nature and is irrelevant to this video
@Charlie9797