A cheetah chases down and devours a zebra. The scene is not uncommon in Etosha, where the cycle of life, death, and birth has played out longer than any human can remember. In this situation, the cheetah is the predator, the animal that is eating, while the zebra is the prey, the animal being eaten.
Predators and prey comprise only a portion of what is commonly known as a food chain. A food chain explains how food energy is transferred between living things in an environment. Every living thing in a food chain is either a producer or a consumer. Producers, such as plants, obtain energy from non-living sources, while consumers get their energy by consuming other living things. Every consumer is either a predator or prey.
