What is "persistence hunting"

n. a type of hunting where the predator uses a combination of running and tracking to pursue the prey to exhaustion.

Persistence hunting (sometimes called endurance hunting or cursorial hunting) is a hunting technique in which hunters, who may be slower than their prey over short distances, use a combination of running, walking, and tracking to pursue prey until it is exhausted. Grey wolves, African wild dogs, spotted hyenas, lungless spiders, and humans are adapted to using this hunting strategy. A persistence hunter must be able to run a long distance over an extended period of time.

Humans are the only surviving primate species who practise persistence hunting. In addition to a capacity for endurance running, human hunters have comparatively little hair, which makes sweating an effective means of cooling the body. Meanwhile, ungulates and other mammals may need to pant to cool down enough, which also means that they must slow down.

Persistence hunting is believed to have been one of the earliest hunting strategies used by humans. It is still used effectively by the San people in the Kalahari Desert, and by the Rarámuri people of Northwestern Mexico.