Lion Predation

[LandSeaLion]

A recent discussion in the personal opinion thread led me to me reading through literature to find information on elephant predation by lions through the years. I found this interesting snippet on pg. 214 of “The Great Plateau of Northern Rhodesia,” Gouldsbury and Shane, 1916, where the alleged predation of grown bull elephants by surprisingly small groups of lions is discussed (the work is in the public domain):

https://archive.org/details/greatplateauofno00go/page/214/mode/2up

Quote:“They [hunters] also state that they have known elephant to be attacked and killed by lions on at least two occasions - in one case by four lions, in the other case by two. The elephants in each case were full-grown bulls, and the trampled condition of the grass and bush bore witness to their mad rushes to and fro in their endeavours to escape.”

I don’t know if that has been posted here before, but it is interesting. It is a very old book, and I have to admit that I personally have a hard time envisioning a team of only two cats being able to bring down a fully-sized African bull elephant, given that the specialised Savuti pride in Botswana, consisting of over 20 lions, was able to bring down adult elephants only on rare occasions (Joubert in 2006 documented a case of an adult elephant killed by lions in the 1990s - a grown bull elephant that had been previously wounded by another elephant). 

Then again, some individual male lions have been able to bring down surprisingly massive prey on their own, even in cases where another pride can struggle:

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

(Photo credits: Edi Day) Reply