Predator-Prey Models with Competition: The Emergence of Territoriality

We introduce a model aimed at shedding light on the emergence of territorial behaviors in predators and on the formation of packs. We consider the situation of predators competing for the same prey (or spatially distributed resource). We observe that strong competition between groups of predators leads to the formation of territories. At the edges of territories, prey concentrate and prosper, leading to a feedback loop in the population distribution of predators. We focus our attention on the effects of the segregation of the population of predators into competing, hostile packs on the overall size of the population of predators. We present some numerical simulations that allow us to describe our counterintuitive and most important conclusion: lethal aggressiveness among hostile groups of predators may actually lead to an increase in their total population.