Animal Criminals?

A 'sneaky' Grizzly bear has been filmed 'stealing' the kill of a pack of wolves in Yellowstone Park (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/03/kleptoparasitic-bear-steals-wolves-kill-yellowstone). The bear, in question, waited until the wolves had killed an elk, before taking the carcass. This type of behaviour (also shown by some big cat species and large seabirds) is labelled as 'kleptoparasitism'. It sounds vaguely criminal. A host (in this case, the wolf pack) is deprived of 'its' resource (the elk) by the bear 'stealing' it. Kleptoparasitism just illustrates, however, how opportunistic some intelligent species can be. Rather obviously, the solitary bear would be highly unlikely to capture and kill an elk. The wolf pack, however, can do so. Wolves can run at speed for longer and hunt cooperatively. The bear, however, has the power to drive off the wolves, once the elk is static (QED).