Lion Predation

[Rishi]

(08-06-2018, 12:58 PM)Shir Babr Wrote: I looked for more videos and images of the hamstring technique and also talked about it with a zoologist. My conclusion is that the main purpose of this method of attack is to avoid the prey defenses and destabilize it, not to damage the hamstrings in particular. When targeting the rump, felines bite mostly with their canines; teeth that are made for stabbing and holding, not cutting, so if the main goal was to sever the hamstrings to make the legs give in, using the sharp carnassials would be a better choice for the job. Sometimes you can see they're biting the base of the tail or farther up, so the spine is a target, as in the image bellow. But what probably makes the victim fall is a combination of fatigue from the struggle, the attacker's weight and the loss of balance (combination that might cause shock, blood loss don't seems an issue), not the damage to the muscles or tendons, as evidenced by how many prey fall before the muscles are seriously injured or how such injuries sometimes never even take place during the process. And it seems many buffaloes escape from such attacks without suffering limps or being crippled. But of course, crippling muscle or tendon damage can be possible too, but not as a rule.

In the video from post #1,190, the gaur is already immobilized when the tigress is eating it alive, the gaur doesn't seem to be in pain, as in this other example in 2:19, which means that both animals were in shock or even suffered spinal damage.

 

Yes, your observations were made by me too. I too had noticed that buffaloes often run away without any noticeable limp. I don't think African lions adopt it often, because they are more prone to wrestling down the animal using numbers & weight. Thus the mounting, tail pulling etc. Except when they're doing it alone (Eaten Alive), but the term is somewhat common in India for both tigers & lions.

Now, they might not be doing it deliberately. Chances are that lone hunters just holds on to the rump of much larger prey & starts chewing out of instinct, while the animal succumbs of collective effect of exhaustion, trauma, blood loss, nerve & muscle damage...like you said.
The name is just something coined by us.

But there are three footages of (lone) asiatic lionesses taking down 500kg+ animals available, and all three are way too similar. 

Male nilgai:

Feral camel (two adults, rest were youngsters who barely participated):

Buffalo (can't find the full video right now):

I don't think all of them were already immobilised though. The nilgai certainly wasn't, but was pulled back down almost too effortlessly. There's another footage of gaur hunts by tigresses in the Tiger Predation thread, look for it. The tigress had walked off leaving the young gaur to her cub/s. I doubt she'd have done that if she weren't 100% certain of the gaur being crippled...as far as looking to be in pain is concerned, their faces just don't have that many muscles for expression. Reply