There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
--- Peter Broekhuijsen ---

  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Why are lions social animals?

United States tigerluver Offline
Feline Expert
*****
Moderators
#31

Lions are big cats after all. Moreover, haven't there been plenty of instances with lions being within close vicinity of their menu items without any aggression due to their full bellies, as it seems in the above picture.
3 users Like tigerluver's post
Reply

United States Pckts Offline
Bigcat Enthusiast
******
#32

Think about how many lions, tigers, leopards, cougars, jaguars, etc. all come with in feet of humans, and very rarely do they ever show any aggression towards us. A tiger or lion attacking or charging a jeep is a rare thing, in fact, it is the exception not the rule.
On top of everything else, we are "training" them to deal with us, each generation becomes more comfortable with the presence of jeeps, photographers, crowds etc. I imagine in years to come the idea of a "rogue cat" will be extremely rare. Unfortunately it is forced evolution for these cats, attack us and risk being killed or imprisoned, live side by side and live a natural life.
4 users Like Pckts's post
Reply

United States Polar Offline
Polar Bear Enthusiast
****
#33

It doesn't mean that lions will not display aggressive behavior when confronted with a human and an empty belly: all big cats are the same in that aspect. Cats wlll start seeing us as cattle if we keep introducing ourselves to them.
2 users Like Polar's post
Reply

Greece LionKiss Offline
Regular Member
***
#34

(01-13-2016, 12:34 AM)Pckts Wrote: . Unfortunately it is forced evolution for these cats, attack us and risk being killed or imprisoned, live side by side and live a natural life.

what do you mean? Probably that if a Lion kills a human it will be killed by the authorities so the rest of them will know what will happen to them if the dare to attack us again?
is this some kind of law?
2 users Like LionKiss's post
Reply

United States Pckts Offline
Bigcat Enthusiast
******
#35

If an animal developed a trait where it becomes aggressive towards man and attacks, usually that animal is removed. Therefore said animal can no longer pass its genes on nor teach any other siblings to behave in that manner. Which is what I mean by "forced evolution"
6 users Like Pckts's post
Reply

Greece LionKiss Offline
Regular Member
***
#36

absolutely amazing

one more beautiful than the other





3 users Like LionKiss's post
Reply

India brotherbear Offline
Grizzly Enthusiast
#37

(01-13-2016, 02:06 AM)Pckts Wrote: If an animal developed a trait where it becomes aggressive towards man and attacks, usually that animal is removed. Therefore said animal can no longer pass its genes on nor teach any other siblings to behave in that manner. Which is what I mean by "forced evolution"

I agree wholeheartedly. From the reading I've done on the "historical grizzly" he was a much more aggressive beast before the invention of the breech-load rifle. I feel certain the same holds true for lions and tigers. 
5 users Like brotherbear's post
Reply

United States Polar Offline
Polar Bear Enthusiast
****
#38

(01-21-2016, 11:13 PM)LionKiss Wrote: absolutely amazing

one more beautiful than the other






Now that is quite *not to be too feminine* cute! Happy
1 user Likes Polar's post
Reply

United States Polar Offline
Polar Bear Enthusiast
****
#39

(01-21-2016, 11:51 PM)brotherbear Wrote:
(01-13-2016, 02:06 AM)Pckts Wrote: If an animal developed a trait where it becomes aggressive towards man and attacks, usually that animal is removed. Therefore said animal can no longer pass its genes on nor teach any other siblings to behave in that manner. Which is what I mean by "forced evolution"

I agree wholeheartedly. From the reading I've done on the "historical grizzly" he was a much more aggressive beast before the invention of the breech-load rifle. I feel certain the same holds true for lions and tigers. 

You'll be surprised to acknowledge that it is actually the opposite for polar bears. Before, when prey was much more readily available, males didn't have to fight so often for control of food supply as now. These days, I (and Polar Bear International) are both getting descriptive reports of male polar bear actually killing each other within minutes due to a depleted prey supply. I suppose polar bears actually got more aggressive in modern times, according to this.
4 users Like Polar's post
Reply

United States paul cooper Offline
Banned
#40

(01-12-2016, 11:11 PM)LionKiss Wrote: this is Pretty Boy walking a couple of meters way from a ranger,
how would you explain that he does not show any sign of aggression towards the ranger?



*This image is copyright of its original author



Delusionist, what is so suprising about a lion not killing a human? All the big cats would do the same.
3 users Like paul cooper's post
Reply

United Kingdom Sully Offline
Ecology & Rewilding
*****
#41

From a paper I remember being posted a few years ago in what I believe was the cave lion thread: Evolution of the mane and group-living in the lion (Panthera leo): a review

The evolution of group-living:

The resource dispersion hypothesis (Macdonald, 1983)suggests that there are circumstances under which the pattern of resource availability facilitates the accommodation of additional individuals within the smallest economically defendable territory required to support reliably the primary occupants. This occurs when the overall costs owing to the presence of the additional individual(s) do not outweigh the overall benefits (Macdonald & Carr,1989). Figure 3 shows Qi values relative to the food requirements per body weight for eight extant felids (lion,tiger, jaguar, leopard, cheetah Acinonyx jubatus, puma, Canada lynx Lynx canadensis and bobcat Lynx rufus) in nine habitats, and clearly suggests that, amongst the populations tested, a parasitic female would benefit most in the Serengeti lion population. Therefore, concerning the presumably solitary early lions, in an environment like the Serengeti, forming an association with another female probably benefits a parasitic female, which is a potential additional female occupant of a lion territory. In a prey-rich environment like the Serengeti, where we suggest the initial group formation was most likely, cooperative hunting seems unlikely to increase food intake

Lion evolution 335per group member in lions (Packer et al., 1990; Creel &Creel, 2002), suggesting that this factor may not have played an important initial role in the origins of group-living further. However, from the viewpoint of the primary female that is parasitized, forming an association with another female might be beneficial straight away in terms of direct conflict, both intra- and interspecific (Packer et al., 1990; Cooper, 1991). If the parasitic female is the primary female’s kin, letting her share the kill may increase the inclusive fitness of the primary female even further if a part of the kill would otherwise be eaten by non-kin or even other species (Macdonald, 1992; Macdonald et al., in press). This intraguild conflict factor is relevant to group territoriality as well, and where either lions or their competitors live in groups, solitary individuals suffer considerable disadvantages for their survival and reproductive fitness (Packer et al., 1990; Grinnell, Packer& Pusey, 1995; Heinsohn & Packer, 1995; H¨oner et al.,2002).The foregoing argument suggests that once evolved, group-living may persist because, regardless of initial factors facilitating it, group-living is made advantageous by intraspecific and intraguild competition, forces which are unlikely to be region-specific. This multi-factor approach to sociality in lions may partly explain why lions live in groups in the Kalahari today even though this environment does not seem strongly to favour initial group formation on the basis of food resources alone(Fig. 3) (Eloff, 1973; Mills et al., 1978; Mills, 1984, 1990);rather, Kalahari lions may retain group-living partly because it evolved in a different evolutionary context. In addition, cooperative hunting of lions in a prey-scarce semi-arid environment (such as Etosha or Kalahari) seems significantly to increase food intake per capita (Stander,1992; Creel & Creel, 2002). Therefore, interestingly, lions may have been benefited by group-living to colonize prey-scarce environments where the group-living is unlikely to have evolved initially. Consideration of the selective advantage of group-living should also be mindful of the inherent scope for phenotypic variation in this trait. That is, while an evolutionarily solitary lion is, by definition, basically solitary all the time, group-living lions have the flexibility to vary their group sizes as appropriate, and do so with lionesses spanning the variation between solitariness (although usually resident solitary females cannot hold good territories) and membership of prides of >10 adult females (e.g. Schaller, 1972). Therefore, although lions with the facility for sociality probably have the capacity to cope with any circumstances to which a solitary lion can adapt, the reverse is not true. The high mobility of lions and their large, contiguous distribution would ensure that any feature with universal selective advantage spread quickly on a geological timescale, across the species range wherever it initially evolved.
2 users Like Sully's post
Reply






Users browsing this thread:
1 Guest(s)

About Us
Go Social     Subscribe  

Welcome to WILDFACT forum, a website that focuses on sharing the joy that wildlife has on offer. We welcome all wildlife lovers to join us in sharing that joy. As a member you can share your research, knowledge and experience on animals with the community.
wildfact.com is intended to serve as an online resource for wildlife lovers of all skill levels from beginners to professionals and from all fields that belong to wildlife anyhow. Our focus area is wild animals from all over world. Content generated here will help showcase the work of wildlife experts and lovers to the world. We believe by the help of your informative article and content we will succeed to educate the world, how these beautiful animals are important to survival of all man kind.
Many thanks for visiting wildfact.com. We hope you will keep visiting wildfact regularly and will refer other members who have passion for wildlife.

Forum software by © MyBB