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

[Styx38]

Leopards and Lions both kill Camels, including adults, in Kenya

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"Most of the camels killed by the hyena were young, but the lion and the leopard killed both adults and the young."


https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233414346_Challenges_of_camel_production_in_Samburu_District_Kenya


As you can see, Lions had a heavy reference for adult Camels, while Leopards had a slight reference for juveniles and sub-adults.



Now, here is a Cougar kill rate for Guanaco.

"Of the 33 observed mountain lion kills, 26 were successfully classi®ed by sex and age class. Adult males composed 15% of the total mountain lion kill, adult females 27% and juveniles 58% (males = 31%, females = 27%; Table 1). Adult males and females were killed by mountain lions less than expected and juveniles were killed c. three times their available proportion in the population (w2= 25.12, d.f. = 2, P < 0.0001; Table 1, Fig. 2)."


https://www.researchgate.net/publication...Park_Chile


As can be seen, adult Camels made up 45% of the total Leopard kill, while adult Guanaco made up 42% of the total Cougar kill.

It is interesting to note the similar kill rate since both the Camel and Guanaco are part of the Camelidae family. Reply