Stanleybmanly, A concept, if you believe war is a concept. (I do.)Doesn’t require great intelligence IMO. I believe hate is a concept. One of the best examples in the animal kingdom is lions v hyenas. I’ve seen footage of lions killing them, and it’s brutal. They kill most of their prey by exphixiation. Hyenas they seem to torture and try to inflict great pain on. And they don’t even eat them most of the time. I think to them it’s more than territorial , it’s hate. The rage, and hate is palpable.
Wolves , or any other predators killing to eat was not intended to be considered war in this conversation.
The concept of war, at least for this question, is organized battles (many of one type vs many of the other ) over an extended period, with the purpose of making the other participant no longer a threat. Both sides fighting and dieing, both sides are all in. Assuming that conflicts couldn’t be settled otherwise.
But again, the question centers around alternatives to war. Could a intelligent race on a given area to coexist do so without the need for war? Or is it inevitable?