Crocodile and Big cats Interaction

[Shadow]

(10-19-2020, 09:32 AM)TheSmok Wrote:

(10-19-2020, 12:54 AM)Shadow Wrote: I don´t see any reason why this person would have lied and there are other people also telling about these lions, not only one guide. Anyway I trust more to what he has measured, than to your guesstimation. Because measurement tape is more reliable than some rough estimation from photo. So in this case I disagree with you, because those crocodiles looked quite big and four meters isn´t unrealistic at all imo, when looking at photos. Lions are quite big cats and it´s a lot about learning, they have all what it takes to kill pretty big crocodiles if they just learn to use their potential.

He does not necessarily lie, because it is very easy to make the error of measuring the partially consumed crocodile carcass in this position by an unknown method (Between the pegs? Along the midline?). The mugger killed by the tigress Machli was also previously estimated at 14 feet or 4.3 meters, while all further analysis of the video and photo material clearly indicated that it was no more than 3.5 meters. No one lied or even tried to exaggerate Machli's feat when giving the first estimation. 3.5 meter crocodiles just look huge, despite the fact that they usually weigh no more than 200 kg. A four-meter crocodile should weigh about 300 kg after all, but these young lions do not seem to be half the size of these crocs, and clearly do not have the dimensions of large adult male lions at prime age... Also, pay attention to the width of the rib cage of the crocodile carcass in the photo. A 4.1 meter crocodile's ribcage would be at least 55-60 cm wide, but how big does this guy's boot have to be to look so big near a 4.1-meter crocodile's ribcage?

Perhaps lions can learn to kill crocodiles... But this will only work as long as the crocodiles do not learn to go into the water when a group of lions approaches, instead of standing their ground as they typically do. Crocodiles usually do not see lions as a serious threat and often behave very risky. For example, these little crocodiles could easily be killed by these lions:

It´s relatively easy to use measurement tape or rope to get the length of a crocodile in quite reliable way, it´s not rocket science after all, when there is whole animal there from tip of the nose to tip of the tail. Pretty simple to measure these animals after all. So I have no trouble to believe these measurements of some 4 meter crocodiles, 4 meters is big but not anything extraordinary. In my opinion in range which a lion knowing what to do can kill quite easily.

Then again, there are countless videos of lions and crocodiles meeting each others, so selecting suitable videos it´s easy to make it look like, that crocodiles have no fear or that they are very afraid of lions. It´s obvious, that some lions are less familiar with crocodiles, while others can walk right in the middle of crocodiles with confidence like they would be going in the middle of antelopes almost. Many times order can be, that male lions eat first, then come crocodiles or lionesses, depending of situation. 

So any of these videos shared now are in no contradiction with it, that there are some lions and prides, which can be said to be specialized crocodile hunters/killers, while there are lions which aren´t as used to. Still many crocodiles make a big mistake when approaching with too much confidence eating lions and especially if there are lion cubs near.

All in all, as I said, you are free to have your opinion, but I trust in this case more to these people who have been making first hand observations. If measurements would be extreme or based on carcasses with half body missing I would be more skeptic, but in these photos there is all left to measure whole length, so it has been easy to get a good measurement. I´ve seen in some discussions the person who was there, defending these measurements, telling that he personally measured one which was 13,5 feet and biggest crocodile found was 14 feet. Reply