behind the big cat's and bear's, who is the top predator?

[Styx38]

(05-25-2020, 11:51 PM)OncaAtrox Wrote:

(05-25-2020, 11:28 PM)Styx38 Wrote: You make a fair point about both focusing mostly on juveniles and sub-adults of 400 + kg ungulates.

However, I wanted to go over Horse predation.

I am aware of Leopards occasionally killing Zebra. I am also aware of Leopards killing Onagers, which could substitute for the Burros killed by Mountain Lions.

However, the Leopard's smaller and weaker cousin, the Snow Leopard kills free-ranging Horses, including adults, throughout their home range.

"Of the domestic ungulates, the yaks and horses range freely

Snow leopards also killed horses more than expected (χ L 2 = 31.31, df = 4, P < 0.01)

Thus the annual per capita loss in relation to the state’s annual per capita income is relatively higher in the GMWS compared with Kibber, which could be attributed to the greater proportion of adult (>5 years old) yaks (65% of total yak loss) and horses (52% of total horse depredation) lost to predators in the GMWS."

 Namgail et. al. 2007. Carnivore-Caused Livestock Mortality in Trans-Himalaya


Here is a Snow Leopard with a Zanskari Horse kill.

*This image is copyright of its original author

The Zanskari is the most common breed in Ladakh, India.

Their size:

"705-992 lbs (320-450 kg)"

https://www.horsebreedspictures.com/zanskari-horse.asp


Which puts them at approx. the size of a Mustang.

"Most wild horses stand 13 to 15 hands high (52-60 inches) and weigh from 700 to 1,000 pounds"

https://www.blm.gov/programs/wild-horse-and-burro/about-the-program/about-wild-horses-and-burros


They have also killed various Horses in other parts of the Himalayas as well as different ranges like Mongolia.

I completed agree these are impressive feats by snow leopards, but keep in mind that they are completely different species from leopards and are in fact more closely related to the tiger. The Pantherine clades  consistsof tiger-snow leopard and lion-jaguar-leopard.

To be fair I believe the snow leopard and cougar are the most underrated of the big cats.

Leopards are underrated to.

 I am not talking about the crazy Leopard fans who put the Congo Leopard in the same ballpark as the Pantanal Jaguar. I am just saying in a general sense.

Leopards have also killed various Equids, likely the rare free-ranging/semi-feral type in places like Iran and Himalayan India. Reply