A Thought About Carnivores and Herbivores by Gary Hainsworth

January 2017, updated January 2023

Generally speaking, carnivores are more intelligent than herbivores. The reason for this is relatively simple: they have to be smarter and, therefore, by necessity, are, in all but rare occurrences, more intelligent than the prey they require for survival. 

Typically, the lion does not eat, but by the death of the gazelle or other flesh-ed creature, it slew so that it might live instead. By slaying the hunted, the hunter effectively buys more time in this reality. That is at least enough time to make other lions and raise them until they are viable enough to eventually produce little lions of their own. You don't have to be smart to stalk barley, hunt carrots, or gnash grass, though an awareness of what plants are edible, which ones are toxic or non-toxic, and likely leave the devourer better off than when the first ate the item is essential. 

You also don't necessarily have to be an intelligent animal to avoid predators or always be wise in their wily ways. Usually, being faster than the slowest runner is more than sufficient to win the race that most wouldn't want to finish first in if they could avoid it. In addition, breeding as much as possible before predation or famine gets the better of you. The predator, likewise, doesn't have to be smart in an absolute sense; they merely have to be smarter than their prey. 

Prey animals, like gazelles, too could be described as a predator of a different sort, though their prey is literal plants. In particular, any plant matter they come across, such as grasses, leaves, and shrubs. As far as I know, your average rabbit is more intelligent than the average carrot or leafy green it encounters and devours. Likewise, the leafy green is more intelligent than the sunlight it absorbs.