While playing as a carnivore, you must hunt for food in order to survive. There are a few ways in which you can procure food, which is listed below.
Hunting Strategies[]
Ambush Predation[]
This method of predation requires some amount of skill to pull off, as it requires stealth. Predators using this method will generally need to get close enough to their prey so that they can overtake it, and then launch into a sprint suddenly and quickly in order to close the distance as fast as possible.
Once this is done, you will need to ensure that your prey cannot escape; this is usually done by causing them to limp. After crippling the prey animal, simply follow it and wait for it to collapse and enjoy.
Pursuit Predation[]
This method of predation is common for faster animals and is especially effective for those with high stamina and fast trots. This method still entails stealth, to allow you to get close to your prey; but once you launch the attack, you do not keep sprinting, but instead begin to alternate between trotting and sprinting as needed.
The reason this is done is so that you keep your prey's stamina low, but don't run out of it yourself; ensuring you can stay on your prey's heels. Once the prey animal has run low on stamina, it may attempt to attack you; merely stay away from the desperate animal and let it run off the last of its stamina before going in for the kill.
Gregarious Predation[]
Commonly seen in carnivores that form social groups, this method is a bit more complex than most. This is often used on larger herbivores, and involves the members of the group each dipping in, taking bites and getting out; inflicting bleed and damaging the prey item with each bite delivered.
Sometimes, you may need to engage in mobbing attacks, where multiple members of the group attack a single herbivore at once to inflict heavy damage. This is useful against slower herbivores but comes with a large amount of risk when hunting large or well-armed prey, which is all very capable of killing the carnivores that use this method. Additionally, reckless mobbing will result in the carnivores damaging each other just as much as the prey animal.
Scavenging[]
Perhaps the least glorious, but most practical method of hunting is that of hunting for dead animals to scavenge. Scavenging off of already-dead animals is the most beneficial method of feeding, as the prey animal is dead and the larger you are, the easier it is to scare the smaller predators off their kill. Some animals, such as Compsognathus, rely on scavenging to survive.
Smaller animals also benefit from scavenging the kills of larger predators, although you should always be wary when doing this, as larger carnivores see you as food just as much as the herbivore you are scavenging from.
Cannibalism[]
When the going gets tough, sometimes you will need to kill and eat your own species to survive. Engaging in cannibalistic behavior is common enough in nature; and if there is no food, cannibalizing a fellow member of your species is a great idea. Usually, it is the weakest or least important pack member that is cannibalized.
Ankle/Butt/Tail-Biting[]
Less of an actual tactic, and more of an exploitation of the current lack of trample damage (as well as other unconfirmed possibilities such as hind-attacks and backward walking), this method involves exploiting an advantage in turning radius and speed to get behind an animal and continually attack animals from the rear.
Because of the mechanically exploitative nature of this method, it is generally not looked upon fondly by the community, despite how effective it is.
Luring[]
Another strategy that can be useful is using a fake friendly call on weaker species. In this, the smaller animal may be lead into a false sense of security and come closer to the carnivore that made the call. Once the prey is close enough, the carnivore will strike.
However, this tactic is only useful on inexperienced players, for players who know better might not fall for the trap. Other players might also become aware of the carnivore who uses the tactic via other players who warn them or eyewitnesses.