Felids Interactions - Interspecific Conflicts

[AlexE]

Many other cases of inter-specific competition involving lions have also been recorded. Along the Lower Sabi Road a lioness was seen chasing a hyaena for almost 100 yards before catching it and proceeding to devour it. The hyaena was pursued for no apparent reason — there being no kill, nor was it worrying the lion. Although hyaenas are often killed by lions when mobbing a feeding pride they are rarely eaten in such situations. Several years ago a cheetah was cornered by two lionesses along the Nahpe Road and severely mauled before it managed to escape.

During the period under discussion lions were reported to have killed 39 hyaenas, 6 leopards, 2 cheetahs, 12 iackals, 2 civet cats, 2 honey badgers, 1 caracal and two crocodiles. Many of these victims were partially eaten.

Since the proclamation in 1898 of the original Sabi Reserve however, only about a dozen cases of man-eating have been recorded in the area that comprises the present Kruger Park.

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.

Young or female leopard vs 5 hyenas

*This image is copyright of its original author

"It was first light as we left Mombo camp, within five minitues we saw Hyenas running from all directions. Our guide Simon shouted 'Leopard in a tree' but as we approached he jumped down. Who knows why? maybe he thought there was only one Hyena, BIG mistake! before long he was surrounded by 5 blocking his escape to a nearby tree. They attacked him from all sides (note the one on the right has a firm hold)he was rolling on his back slashing with all feet. The sounds were horrific and there were tears from the ladies in our vehicle,clouds of dust everywhere.They dragged him into a bush and before long all went quiet, we feared the worst,reminding me of thugs beating up a helpless guy in a back alley. After a while the Leopard appeared slowly edging away from the bush again followed but the Hyenas, but this time they were submissive and keeping a safe distance. Later we managed to locate them licking their wounds, the old man had inflicted some nasty gashes and bites. 

Not the best of images, it happened so quickly and didn't have much of a view, or the opportunity to change my settings."


Previously we showed a hyena pirating prey from a leopard. Though the leopard tried to stand its ground, the hyena boldly rushed in to grab the prey. Twice the leopard tried to fend off the thief but in the end the hyena triumphed and carried off the remains of the carcass. 

But hyenas do not always walk away unscathed from interactions with leopards. There is one record of a leopard which not only knew the trick of keeping a hyena at bay, but also killed it and it did so not only once, but three times! 

But here there’s no call for aggression from either side here. The leopard has nothing, except for its peace and quiet, to defend. The hyena won’t attack because there is nothing to scavenge. For now the two adversaries will tolerate one another - next time ‘round, it might be an altogether different case.

Hyena killed and eaten by a lions
There is blood + video

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Young leopard killed and eaten by a hyenas
There is no blood and video

OLD CARCASS

Hyenas are scavengers

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

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