Lion Predation

[Styx38]

(04-28-2020, 10:42 PM)GuateGojira Wrote:

(04-27-2020, 03:46 AM)Styx38 Wrote: Lion kills Bull Eland after latching on for  a long time:

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Eventually, Lioness pulls down Eland after latching on for a while

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*This image is copyright of its original author

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Eland is still alive.

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Lioness is tired after killing or incapacitating the Eland bull. 

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Originally, screenshots are from this video, but this was posted in Quora and some forums:

@GuateGojira


Here is a lone Lion (female) taking down a Bull Eland.

I was checking the video again and this bull was killed in Schotia South Africa, so this eland is especifically the Cape eland (Taurotragus oryx orix). According with José R. Castelló in his book "BOVIDS OF THE WORLD" of 2016, the Cape eland is about the smallest of the species, with males weighing up to 700 kg maximum. Thouless (2013; in Kingdon & Hoffmann (2013) Vol VI) quotes Skinner (1967) that gave the mean mass of 19 mature bulls from bushveld areas as 650 kg (range 425–840). Also Wilson (1969) gave the mean mass of five mature bulls as 604 kg (range 530–690), and ten females had a mean weight of 445 kg (range 385–470). Finally wild Common Elands from the KwaZulu–Natal Drakensberg are lighter, with mean adult masses of 453 kg (n=17) for males and 305 kg (n=61) for females (Scotcher 1982; and see Keep 1972).

So, the biggest population of this particular subspecies are those from the bushveld area, but that is too north for the specimen in the video, while those of the KwaZulu–Natal are closer, but still far away. It will be interesting to see if Wilson (1969) provide an specific location for his records as Thouless do not quote it. This means that the eland in the video is not even close to the 900 kg that we previously believed and probably weighed between 700 or maybe up to 800 kg, lower than the giant elands of East Africa, but still a great feat for a lioness.

This means that the record for the biggest prey that a lion can kill single handle is still with the African buffalo (excluding the exceptional cases of the giraffes and young elephants, of course) with a maximum weight of 900 kg recorded in the Willem Pretorius Game Reserve.

I just want to point out that the Elands in the Drakensberg Mountains are likely smaller due to poor nutrition.

"Eland  are much smaller in the Drakensberg Mountains  of KwaZulu-Natal where the males only reach a maximum mass of 500 kg.  The difference in size could be due to a lower quality of nutrition although genetic factors may have an influence."


https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... aphus_oryx

Apart from that, you are right. Not to mention that the Lioness held on to the leg for a long time during the hamstringing. This indicates the Eland is way above 600 kg, possibly 700-800 kg as you stated.

Also, there are a handful of 900 + kg Bulls here:

"Adult Cape eland females have an average weight of between 400 and 460 kg (maximum 560 kg) and a mean shoulder height of 150 cm, compared to adult males weighing in at 650-940 kg and a shoulder height of 160-180 cm.  Adult males are generally 30-35% heavier than females and are easily recognisable at a distance.  The forequarters of the body are notably larger and heavier than the hind and as a result, the front feet are larger. "

The large Cape Eland Bulls might have been taken from some hunting records. Reply