We chat with Melissa Shyan-Norwalt, PhD, CAAB about the behavioral differences (or similarities!) between predator and prey species. This chat stems from a conversation that Melissa and I had several years ago at my first ever Interdisciplinary Forum for Applied Animal Behavior (IFAAB) conference over drinks, where she was telling me about a pig she was working with and how she was approaching the behavior protocol based on its ethology. It got me thinking about whether predators, as a group, may have unique behavioral repertoires and biological leanings compared to prey and whether the two groups may therefore require unique protocols for behavior modification.

Many years later, we finally get to have this discussion! And we’re doubly lucky to have Drs. Suzanne Hetts and Dan Estep to help facilitate. It turns out that predators and prey as groups may not be so different except for a few interesting areas. Check out the videos below if you want to guess what that behavioral difference might be.