Felids Interactions - Interspecific Conflicts

[AlexE]

Other carnivores are also fair game to leopards. While lions may invest a great deal of energy in killing fellow predators, their motivation seems more to eliminate competition than to acquire food, and they frequently leave such kills untouched. Leopards, however, have been recorded killing and eating everything from dwarf mongooses to adult spotted hyaenas. One well-observed Ngorongoro Crater leopard killed and ate 11 jackals in less than a month, which suggests that small canids may be preferred prey when abundant, and there is considerable truth in the belief that leopards are partial to dogs. Such unusual preferences may vary from region to region. In arid north-eastern Namibia, researcher Flip Stander discovered adult cheetahs were sometimes killed as prey by leopards, a remarkable occurrence also recently observed by tourists in the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park in South Africa. Yet in the comparitively lush bushveld of northern KwaZulu-Natal, I saw three cases of leopards killing cheetahs and leaving the carcasses untouched. Perhaps where the density of more 'typical' prey species is low - such as in desert regions - leopards cannot afford to be choosy and are more likely to eat the meat of other predators.

Trevor Carnaby, a field guide who's worked in a few different game reserves in southern Africa states the following in his book. 

“Spotted hyaenas are the largest hyaenas and, on average, second only to the lion in weight (the largest leopard males can be heavier). The fact that they are often sociable also makes them formidable. Wild dogs, though, through better coordination and organisation as a pack unit, will often put hyaenas to flight. Although leopard will not go out of their way to attack solitary hyaena, lone spotties are wary of them (particularly large leopard males).”

Adult male leopard hyena:

Reply