Felids Interactions - Interspecific Conflicts

[Pantherinae]

(05-23-2018, 07:14 AM)Rishi Wrote: @Pantherinae Nice! 
And thanks. I didn't know that much about their size.

Leopards have been known in multiple cases to have survived onslaught of multiple lionesses too. I guess the prime specimens of both species would be evenly matched indeed.

Still, it's the "universal law of bullying" that you go after softer individuals & not the ones that would fight back with equal ferocity!
Guess that's why it's so rare that we're even discussing it right now. Or else there'd be enough cases to present & immediately put an end to this debate. (That lioness thing was clearly a weird exception... Both were too desperately hungry to bother about each other?)

Yes Leopards are ferocious animals and I have seen them put on impressive displays of defense against lionesses. Lions have tendency of not killing leopards when they corner them.. even male lions sometimes let's the leopard live, it's strange (I think a tiger would kill a leopard 100 out of a 100 times). The reason I used lioness mauling as an example for the toughness of the hyena is that unlike a lightning fast leopard that can lay on his back with four sets of claws and a jaw full of long sharp teeth, the hyena only has their jaws. So you can see several lionesses bite and claw on the hyena and still the hyena will often walk away relatively fine, it proves how much punishment a hyena is capable of taking, so for a leopard killing one would be a very hard task.

Trust me the leopard is a much bigger personal favorite of mine than the spotted hyena (I even prefer the striped hyena). But I've learned to look at it more fair over the years and started to appreciate things for how they are. I could be a fanatic myself, but let's face it sometimes you are dead wrong. I was certain that a lone lion would beat a tiger (basically because I wanted too), but now I think it's more a 50/50 and if I had to give an edge I would for sure give it to the tiger,  I was also sure a leopard would smash a hyena, my whole school book was covered with drawings of leopards killing hyenas, but again now I lean towards 50/50 and I actually believe I would slightly favor a big hyena over a big leopard if I had too. 
I mean why should the world work just like you would want it to work. Some things you like might not always be as great as another thing you like a little less, but that doesn't mean it's bad. And it saddens me when I see people talk trash about beautiful animals just so that they can prove their favorite animal is superior.. it's pathetic! All species that are mainly discussed here on this forum are immensely powerful predators, that are amazing in their own way, and all should be protected from the threat our species pose for them. 

And the last part I fully agree with! It's correct they (big individuals) will certainly avoid each other, they don't care for putting on a show for all of us on all different forum, to end our debates, they fight to survive and they will at all costs avoid a fight with a deadly foe! :) Reply