Jaguar dominating a tiger in captivity absolutely amazed.. Jaguars really are something.  

Hello, i am wondering if there are any wild encounters between tigers and asian lions?
As far as i know we lack of reliable sources about possible encounters
We know in Asia, both lions and tigers share same area in Asia, maybe not same environment while lions d prefer savannah and tigers forest/jungle


Thanks

I have been wondering, which are more muscular or stronger pound for pound generally, herbivores or carnivores? In my view herbivores must be stronger because of the following reason.

The energy obtained by all living organisms on the earth is from sun. The energy from the sun is taken up by plants, photosynthesis occurs and energy is produced. Not all energy is utilized by plants. Some of it is wasted as heat. So, plants are the biggest living things probably on this planet as they utilize maximum energy from sun. Similarly, herbivores which consume plants utilize it for energy production. Even here some of the energy is wasted during the process. So, they must be the second biggest living organisms on the earth. Carnivores feed on herbivores even here some of energy is wasted. So, the amount of energy available for herbivores is not available for carnivores. So, I feel herbivores must be more stronger even pound for pound i suppose. Please state your opinions on this.

Not quite wild but Kevin Richardsons Male lions average between 190kg and the heaviest was 210kg
"Thank you for your interest shown in our lions.

Aslan’s operation was a success thank you and I am sure he is in a lot less pain having had his teeth repaired.

They were on average between 190 kg and heaviest if I recall was 210 kg.

No not really difference in the tawny vs white

Best Wishes,
Mandy"








Koch's 272kg lion

Photo and information credits: Ben Cranke Wildlife Photographer

"Meet Adriano. He weighs in at a whopping 158kg of beautiful male jaguar. I was fortunate to see him on a few occasions on this trip, and each time he was relaxed and posed so nicely for us."





Him from 2013
"Probably the heavy weight champion of Pantanal. This male was weight by Panthera organization in 2013 at 156 kg, So probably this year is over 160 kg!!!!!!!!!"

*This image is copyright of its original author

Here's a 315lb  or 142kg Pantanal Jaguar being measured and weighed

Taking the same premise for our Tiger thread and making a leopard thread and we should make a Lion, Jaguar and Cougar thread as well.


Some of the weights are from posters in other forums, I'll make sure to give them Credit.

Find from @kurtz
@kurtzNamibia Okonjima.

Kobo male leopard, 69 kilograms, but only 4 years old



https://www.facebook.com/AfriCatNamibiaHQ/posts/1841831809385385

@1977marc
Very intereting info from a ( average ) prime male leopard in The Sabi Sands.

I contacted the man who was part of the team of darting and collaring this male leopard Gerrie Camacho.
They weighted Rhulani and he weighted 74 kg.

He said that for a prime leopard in this area that is not a huge male....
So as I said before, Sabi Sands holds some male over 80 kg or even 90kg plus...
https://www.facebook.com/AfriCatNamibiaHQ/posts/1841831809385385


@chui
"Here's a general summary of this project: Aspects of the ecology of leopards (Panthera pardus) in the Northern Tuli Game Reserve, Botswana

I do know that a particularly big male captured by this project was weighed at 76kg, again can't find the original webpage but that's what I have noted down. This male, named Skebengwa, unfortunately died after a fairly minor wound got very badly infected. You can read about him here: Tribute to a King

Another photo of "Skebengwa", looks like a short chunky male."




NEW UNKNOWN LEOPARD COLLARED
Team AfriCat collared a new male leopard last night. A seemingly old male approx. 8 - 10 years.
Body Measurements:
Weight: 67 kg
Shoulder height: 76 cm
Body length: 82 cm
He is in good physical condition with no visible injuries, we collared, microchipped and gave him a rabies shot. After allowing him time to recover from last nights immobilization, we released him this morning.
We have a large presence of leopards within the Okonjima Nature Reserve that lived in the area before we completed the boundary fence in 2010. The AfriCat/Okonjima Predator Prey Density Study, has given us the opportunities to research the number of unknown cats that occur within the 22 000ha park area! Giving us a chance to understanding their territories and learn more about their behaviour as a species.
The Okonjima Nature Reserve (Lat/Lon: 20º49’19.36’’S, 16º38’21.25’’E) is located in central Namibia approximately 50 km south of Otjiwarongo and compromises a total area of 22 000 ha. The study area is semi-arid and characterized by a marked seasonality. The annual precipitation averages approximately 450 mm. The Okonjima farm boundary traces a central plateau, on average an altitude of 1 600 meters, surrounded by the Omboroko Mountains. The vegetation can be mainly described as tree- and scrub savannah, interspersed with Yellow wood (Terminalia sericea) and several Acacia-species. Artificially constructed water reservoirs ensure the perennial supply of surface water.
Okonjima was used intensively for the purpose of cattle farming from 1920 until 1993. Since then the private nature reserve has been used for carnivore rehabilitation and non-consumptive use of wildlife through eco-tourism.
The reserve is surrounded by a 96 km electrified perimeter fence, completed in 2010, and is bordered entirely by commercial farmland. An additional fence is erected within the reserve and creates a 20 000 ha reserve for carnivore rehabilitation and a 2 000 ha "lodge area" that includes lodges and campsites as well as the AfriCat headquarters and the Environmental Education Centre.
Leopards as well as brown hyenas (Hyena brunnae) occur naturally within the borders while cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) and spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) are part of AfriCat’s rehabilitation program that have been released into the area. Lions (Panthera leo) are absent from the study area. Thus, leopards belong to the apex predators in the reserve that are playing an important role in maintaining the health of the ecosystem.
‪#‎AfriCat‬ ‪#‎namibia‬ ‪#‎carnivore‬ ‪#‎conservation‬ ‪#‎leopard‬ ‪#‎research‬ ‪#‎survival‬ ‪#‎park‬ ‪#‎nonprofit‬
http://www.africat.org/proj…/the-africat-predator-population-
density-study-in-the-okonjima-nature-reserve/aoppds-phase-1




Nkosi Okonjima 61 kg.


this is how a 65-70kg male leopard looks like
Mafala



Mafana dead
SAYING GOODBYE TO OUR BIG BOY MAFANA - the end of a legend that will live on forever...
We are all very saddened by the death of one another one of our legendary leopard males. Unfortunately the threat of younger and stronger territorial males is a big reality for the old boys within the Okonjima Nature Reserve.
EACH IMAGE posted will be accompanied by a personal tribute to MAFANA written by Okonjima Guides & AfriCat Research team members who have spent years getting to know & love this big boy.
Known for his INTENSE and MESMERISING stare, these are some of his best captures!
May you Rest In Peace!!!
"Saying good bye to Mafana is difficult. Fell in love with him from the first moment I saw him which was three years ago. At that stage he was still uncollared having lost his collar in a fight. I had a special connection with Mafana, he gave me brilliant sightings (depending on his mood) which included my first leopard hunt."
Rest in peace Big Boy
Richard - Okonjima Guide
‪#‎AfriCat‬ ‪#‎namibia‬ ‪#‎leopard‬ ‪#‎carnivore‬ ‪#‎conservation‬ ‪#‎nonprofit‬ ‪#‎RIP‬ ‪#‎Mafana‬ ‪#‎research‬ ‪#‎wildlifephotography‬ ‪#‎wildlifeconservation‬
Medical Finding of The Okonjima Nature Reserve's wild, free-roaming, male leopard: MAFANA, about 13/14 years of age on the 13th June 2016 during and after an emergency operation:
Dr. D Rodenwoldt
http://www.africat.org/…/…/our-vet-team/diethardt-rodenwoldt
LAST WEIGHTS: 2010: 67kg 2012: 70kg 2014: 65kg 2016: 64kg
Sunday, late afternoon an Okonjima guide reported a severe injury to the body of the male leopard called Mafana. A more thorough investigation by AfriCat, concluded that Mafana should be immediately be attended to due to some superficial and extensive, deep muscle and rib fracture injuries. He was darted and given fluids, painkillers and antibiotics and the part-time AfriCat veterinarian was immediately contacted who was unfortunately 500km from AfriCat HQ at the time.
Under anesthesia the next morning, while opening up the various skin and muscle wounds, ribs 6,7,8 were either fractured or crushed, causing a left sided pneumothorax with one loose rib chip piece, protruding to the outside, with severe intercostal muscle and skin lacerations.
The left middle and diaphragmatic lung lobes were also punctured, which caused a localized pulmonary emphysema.
Due to the extend and severity of the trauma some fluid started to accumulate inside the left chest cavity (hydro-thorax), which already showed signs of being infected. Despite intense supportive treatment applied before and during the operation, he passed away while under aneasthetic.
The massive soft tissue damage, the multiple rib fractures, with the pain factor endured, the start of an infection, associated with an upcoming toxemia with its metabolic effect on other organs in the body, all contributed to a weakened heart, giving the operation only a minimal chance and ending terminal.
We believe all wounds resulted from another territorial fight. Each one claiming their territory. The deep skin lacerations on both sides from the shoulder, top back and upper loin area were most likely inflicted by the claws. The left side mid upper rib fractures and penetration into the thorax, we believe was caused by the canine teeth bite.
Normally a leopard would hold and kill its prey by the neck, but it seemed that Mafana could have been surprised by his competition while on a kill . . .
We suspect, while Mafana was eating a freshly killed antelope, the other male possibly stalked from behind, attacking him by surprise. Mafana, at the last moment, must have become aware of an eminent upcoming danger and leapt forward, trying to escape the onslaught, but still caught in the jump, thus resulting in the specific location of the wound sites, which were predominantly behind the should on his back and across his spine.



NAME: Wahu
GENDER: Male
AGE: (2016) 18 years
WEIGHT: (2013) 57.2Kg (2014) 57.2Kg (2015) 62.2Kg
ORIGIN: Omaruru
SIBLINGS: None
ARRIVED AT AFRICAT: 13 June 1998
REASON FOR CAPTIVITY: Cannot be set free for he was hand-raised and has now become too habituated. Tame leopards that are released back into the wild can be very dangerous, for they lose their natural fear of man.

Wahu is one of our leopards at AfriCat's Carnivore Care Centre.
WAHU has been at AfriCat since he was a week old. A farmer contacted AfriCat to pick up a cheetah cub that he had just caught on his farm. We rushed to its rescue only to find that it was actually a leopard cub. Wahoo’s eyes were still closed as he was just a few days old. Due to his young age he had to be hand-reared which has obviously habituated him and he is unsuitable for release. He currently lives in a 12-acre enclosure here at AfriCat and is regularly seen by school groups and guests. Wahu is one of AfriCat’s great ambassadors!
http://www.africat.org/index.php?option=...3Aadoption

This male captured for research in the Tuli reserve in the south east corner of Botswana was weighed at 63kg. A fairly typical looking mature male from Southern Africa IMO.

American Bears - Selections of the Writings of Theodore Roosevelt.
The naturalist John Burroughs said of his friend Theodore Roosevelt: "Roosevelt was a many-sided man and every side was like an electric battery. Such versatility, such vitality, such thoroughness, such copiousness, have rarely been united in one man." 
Bears, especially grizzlies, were one important element of what he sought in the West. His quest was one of self-assertion, a devotion to what one historian called a "cult of manliness." The cult was a matter of pride, of establishing through personal energy and labor one's standing, not just among cowboys or bears, but in society as well. 
- There were all kinds of things of which I was afraid at first, ranging from grizzly bears to "mean" horses to gunfighters; but by acting as if I was not afraid I gradually ceased to be afraid -

http://www.all-creatures.org/bear/b-bearintel.html 
BEAR INTELLIGENCE

The thing about bears that perhaps fascinates people the most is their remarkable intelligence. They are the most intelligent native nonhuman animals in North America, and many modern bear biologists accredit them with the equivalent IQ of the great apes, some even dare give them the equivalent intelligence of a 3-year-old human.

Now, this isn't very remarkable by our standards, because 3-year-olds aren't very smart, and certainly can't theoretically formulate the existence of undetectable black holes and dark matter, or engineer interstellar spacecraft, but how much of a difference in brain structure or intelligence does such a leap in cognitive ability require? ...When it all comes down to it, pretty much just a few extra ounces of neural tissue on the outer layer of the cerebrum. That, along with the acquired knowledge of our forefathers, and the will, explorative curiosity and fascination and determination to discover and unravel new mysteries. ...that's what separates the mind of a three year old, a bear, an ape or a dolphin from the mind of Steven Hawking or Albert Einstein.

...far greater a difference and advancement in cogition is the difference between an autonomic brain that only serves as an organ of controlling basic bodily function, like that of an aurthropod or lesser vertebrate, or that of a sophisticated brained mammal with the capacity for subjective emotion and basic reasoning and understanding of simple concepts. These are abilities that most large-brained carnivores and primates share, and we should all feel kinship towards each other as common kin in this ability.

When it comes to loving animals, it can be easy to have a bit of a bias in admiring the more brainy animals. This can be due to a natural human feeling of incontendedness in the laid down scientific dogma that humans are extremely unique and alone on Earth. It just doesn't evolutionarily make sense. We didn't just evolve from nothing, all the mammals are related to us in some way, they're our cousins, and all of our brains must share at least some basic similarity in function and capacity. Where else would our capabilities have originated from? There is no reasonable denying that the evolutionary development of our modern brains stems from common roots; in the level of sophisticated higher brain functioning that many of our close mammalian relatives share.

...So now we shall explore the intelligence of one of the 'brainiest' of the mammals, the bears. 
...I wish I had better documented sources for all of these facts and anecdotal info, but all I can say is that it comes mostly from things found in the writings by Ben Kilham, Steven Stringham, Charlie Russell, and Lynn Rogers. All of it is as true as their words. So enjoy!

COGNITION AND REASONING:

here is an excerpt form Lynn Rogers' overview of bear intelligence:

Black Bears:

-Large brain compared to body size. 
 
-One of the more intelligent mammals.



-Navigation ability superior to humans.



-Excellent long-term memory.



-Can generalize to the simple concept level.



"Bears may be the most intelligent of the North American mammals according to their brain structure, the experience of animal trainers, and tests at the Psychology Department of the University of Tennessee. Grizzly bear mothers spend 1½ to 3½ years showing their cubs where and how to obtain food. The cubs’ ability to form mental maps and remember locations may exceed human ability."



Ben Kilham says bears have intelligence comparable to that of the great apes.



A biologists in British Columbia that has studied bears for 20 years estimates their intelligence to be at about the same level as a 3-year-old human.



Famous bear trainer Doug Seuss claims that his brown bear Bart must have been at least as intelligent as a chimpanzee, and according to him Bart wasn't even an extraordinarily intelligent individual as far as brown bears went.

TOOL USE:



-Bears using sticks, branches, etc, to scratch themselves



-Bears picking up and throwing objects such as rocks during play, sometimes at random, sometimes aiming at each other (!!!)



-Polar Bears throwing chunks of ice at walruses to bludgeon them and knock them out



-other more complex usage of tools has been allegedly observed before in bears, for instance, Doug Seuss's kodiak grizzly Bart picked up and carried a wooden board to a thorny bramble set it down over it, and used it as a 'bridge' to walk over the thorny bramble safely so he could get to a coke can he found in the middle of it.



-During Charlie Russell's bear co-existence study in Kamchatka, a wild mother brown bear named "Brandy" would sometimes leave her cubs behind with Charlie, and then go off by herself to forage, using Charlie as a "babysitter" for her cubs. ...does this qualify as bears using humans as tools? it's a bit of a leap, but worth mentioning...


SELF AWARENESS: 
 

-It is not known wether bears are capable of having self-awareness, such a capacity is very iffy, about 75% of chimps can recognize their reflection in a mirror, but 25% never figure it out. Self-awareness is no absolute or certain capability, and it is so strange that there is no real certainty that an animal is actually thinking "Hey! I'm an animal! How cool is that!" When was the last time you thought that? It's true, I swear, go look in a mirror...



-in cases in which bears see their reflection, the reaction at first is usually being frightened at it or swatting at it with a paw, but sometimes bears also appear to be mystified and fascinated with their reflection, sometimes staring at it with curiosity for long periods of time or licking and biting at the reflective surface to test its substance. Does this mean they're figuring out that it's not another bear but perhaps their own reflection? Do they ever think "Hey! I'm a bear, How cool is that!" There's no way anyone can know this for certain so there's not even any point in discussing it.



SENSE OF BEAUTY

-many people have witnessed bears in the wild partaking in unusual behavior such as sitting still for long periods of time in one spot doing apparently nothing but staring at scenic vistas such as sunsets, lakes and mountains. There is very little explanation as to what use or purpose is in this behavior except in theorizing that the bears merely find such views to be aesthetic and "beautiful".



ALTRUISM



-In some cases bears care for each other, especially mothers for their cubs and siblings for each other. They will risk their lives, even fight to the death defending their own cubs or siblings from danger in some cases.



-bears do grieve for others, bear cubs wail when hunters shoot their mothers in front of them, and will moan and cry for weeks afterward in apparent grief. Although they may emotionally recover faster than humans do, they are not without love and altruism for others, and are deeply hurt, perhaps for life, when someone dear to them is taken away.



CONCLUSION


Is any of this true or for certain? Can any of it be firmly proven by science? It can't be said, and probably can't be proven or certified in the mind of any objectively rational scientist. It might even be redundant and pointless to speculate all of this, as intelligence is such an immensely complex, multifaceted realm that we still know very, very little about, I don't want to be misleading anyone here. Intelligence is certainly NOT something that can just be measured like body temperature, and an IQ number is just totally irrelevant. Some people might even say that most animals are "smarter" than us, because there are so many things about life they know about that we have forgotten, and so many things we can't understand or comprehend that they can. Bears can't compose rap music or invent an atomic bomb, but they can create mental maps better than we can. In what other ways would they surprise us if we could truly peer into their minds? When it all comes down to it, when all of this is put into consideration, how can anyone measure something as immeasurable as intelligence so rashly? Do we even have any idea what intelligence really is?
...Are we not just dumb animals ourselves, a bunch of cranium-scratching primates still trying to figure all of this out? Perhaps the only one that really has his mind around things is a force greater and higher than all of us...

Big cats must be those that have equal density and strength of muscles all over the body. That may be the reason why one of them is called KING OF BEASTS. They must have learned or copied ruthless approach from dogs and brutal approach from bears. That may be the reason dogs hate them   . That may also be reason why people who copy things are addressed as copy cats. These are just my PERSONAL OPINIONS. No hurtings to anyone intended.

Intelligence cannot be measured with a measuring tape or a set of scales. Measuring intelligence is not an exact science. However, hunters, field biologists, those who hunt with a camera, and animal trainers can certainly find strong evidence of what animal is smarter than who. In your personal opinion ( without argument )... name them in order with the smartest being number one. Remember that we each have our own personal opinions. Here's mine: 
1 - Whales and dolphins.
2 - Corvus ( such as crows and ravens ) and the African gray parrot. 
3 - Chimpanzee, gorilla, and orangutan.
4 - Bears, baboons, and elephants.
5 - other old-world monkeys ( some I'm sure smarter than others ).
6 - new-world monkeys ( some I'm sure smarter than others ).
7 - Wolves, foxes, other wild dogs, and domestic dog.
8 - Cats, both big and small ( some I'm sure are smarter than others.
9 - Hyena, seals, walrus, and sea lions.
10 - mustelids ( some I'm sure are smarter than others.