This thread is for information, pictures and videos of orcas. When posting only photos, it would be more interesting if there is also some story about that photo if photo doesn´t show something spectacular/extraordinary.

This is older news from New Zealand, where orcas hunted group of sharks to the shore so, that some shark(s) actually swam to the beach to flee.


Some astonishing photos from 2013, where an orca is hunting and catching a bottlenose dolphin off the coast of Mexico.












https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2377154/Eight-ton-orca-leaps-15ft-air-finally-capture-dolphin-hour-chase.html

There are certainly some better ways to start a new topic, but I didn't see anything about marsupial animals.

Nevertheless this first thread seems funny. How can we tell that the animals aren't epicurean ? Or simply "bons vivants" ?

I think this is getting worse, Brazil government didn't take needed action. Neither the international community is much concerned about this. This issue is way bigger than any issue right now across the globe.
I request members living in South America, please keep updating us about this mishap.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Megalania (Varanus prisca) was a giant monitor lizard that lived in southern Australia. It was part of a species of megafauna that lived during the Pleistocene, and it appears to have desappeared around 40.000 years ago. The first Aboriginal settlers of Australia may have encountered living Megalania.
Megalania is landbased lizard known to have existed judging from its size, Megalania would have fed mostly upon medium to large sized animals, including any of the giant marsupials like Diprotodon.
ralph Molnar in 2004 determined a range of possibles sized for Megalania, he did this by scaling up from dorsal vertebrae, after he determined a relationship between dorsal vertebrae length and total body length, if it had a long thin tail like the Lace monitor (Varanus varius), then it would have reached a length of 7,9 metres. If it tail to body proportions were more similar to that of the Komodo dragon then a length of around 7 metres is more likely. Using 7 m as the maximum length Molnar estimated the average weight of the lizard at 320 kilograms and 1940 kilograms as the maximum.
This is more than  twice the length of their closes living relative the Komodo dragon of eatern Indonesia.

Thread to share information about success rates of predators and also what kind of information can be found behind percentages. This thread is meant for terrestrial predators.

I start with observations and thoughts from Londolozi guide James Tyrrell. I found it interesting.

Quote: 
"Are Leopards Successful Hunters?

Most of what I’m about to type is purely anecdotal evidence.

It comes from years of game drives and walks in the field, but given that A) we only witness less than 10% of a leopard’s daily routine (and that’s as a Londolozi team, rather than for an individual ranger or tracker), and B) I’m not running any statistical analyses on my personal observations, none of this is gospel, it’s merely the initiation of what I consider to be an interesting conservation stream.

The established fact is that leopards don’t have a particularly high success rate in hunts. I’m sure the figure varies somewhat between areas, and maybe even between individual leopards, but as it’s roughly 20% – or maybe even less –  I’ll agree that they don’t score well in the hunt-conversion ratio. Certainly not when you compare them to Wild Dogs, which are up above 70% in their hunting success rate. Of course the dogs have a different hunting strategy and they operate as a pack, so it’s like comparing apples and oranges, but I’m merely giving an appreciation for where these solitary spotted cats sit."




Whole story and more photos:

https://blog.londolozi.com/2019/08/10/le...the-stalk/

I'm already thinking of where to go next, right now I'm leaning towards Patagonia.
Not only to see Cougars but from what I've heard from others who've been there, Patagonia is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. It's also a place for active travelers with it's hiking and kayaking through the Glaciers, so it's definitely a place that interests me.
But to be honest, my first choice was Alaska to see Grizzlies or maybe the Arctic to see Polar Bears but both options are incredibly expensive.
I still hope to see either, so if anyone has any other options on how to see them in the wild, let me know.

Any other ideas are welcomed as well, I'm just tossing around some things at the moment and maybe one of you has another option I'm not aware of.
Thanks

Today on 31st July, World Ranger Day, a new thread dedicated to the boots on the ground.

Hi guys and girls, I'm new to this forum so my first post is regarding getting me and my daughter (6) interested in nature so we can spend time together on nature walks and trips to the zoo etc. 

My daughter is really interested in getting started so any advice on how to get started would be much appreciated :). First thing I am going to need (maybe not now but for the cold and wet autumn/winter months) is a nice warm waterproof jacket for her because she only has her school jacket which we don't want to get muddy and dirty etc so, again, any advice on what brand is best to go for, would be greatly appreciated :).

I look forward to interacting with everyone here too.

I know many of us love wildlife or simply enjoy nature. After all thats why we are here on WildFact.
Sometime I think, What could be the best job that I can do and I also get fully satisfied with my life? kind of inner piece you know (I am not the Po... and I don't have Shifu )

I found that I always want to work near Wild animals, any kind of job, but I want to spend my time with them, studying their behavior. seeing them..

Imagine a morning with nice weather and wind is flowing.. nature looks amazing and you see your favorite animals or doing kind of field works around them.. or daily routine work.... Ahh.. thats give huge relief in mind.

I don't need to much money.. I only need sufficient for average daily life.

I know sometime it could be hard to handle situation due to wild behavior of these animals, but.. hey that's the fun part... you need some challenge.

So my question is what is your dream job in wildlife field.. If you get chance and paid to live your basic life.. how you want to be get associated with them ?

I inaugurate a new topic about the numerous carnivorous dinosaurs other than the famous T-rex and Spinosaurus.

Rather friendly, isn't ? Coeluosaurus yes, but what else ? Raptor, deinonychosauridae ( perhaps, but the hindlegs are missing... )... ? If they are extracted from the Jurassik Park movies, there are deinonychus.