托福口语 Task 4

Today, we're going to talk about a fascinating behavior in the animal kingdom: cooperative hunting. Now, many people assume that predators always hunt alone, but that's not true. Some species work together to catch prey that would be impossible to catch alone. This cooperation often involves complex communication and role specialization. Let me give you two examples. First, consider the orca, or killer whale. In the waters off Patagonia, a pod of orcas has developed a unique hunting technique for hunting sea lions. They swim in coordinated waves to wash the sea lions off ice floes, and then one orca will create a wave while others wait to catch the prey. Each orca has a specific role – some are 'wave-makers', others are 'chasers'. This teamwork allows them to capture prey that would easily escape a single hunter. Second, think of the African wild dog. These canines hunt in packs, and they use a relay system. When chasing a wildebeest, the pack members take turns leading the chase. While one dog runs at full speed, others conserve energy, then they swap positions. This allows the pack to maintain high speed over long distances, eventually exhausting their faster but solitary prey. Without this cooperation, they couldn't catch such large animals.