Wild carnivores and humans compared

[Pckts]

(02-22-2020, 06:10 PM)Rishi Wrote: Dr. Yadavendra Dev Jhala with a tranqed asiatic lioness. 

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Stotra Chakrabarti with another tranqed asiatic lioness.

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The above young man is on his way to become the future lead researcher on asiatic lions in India & the World. An article on him:

Quote:The Queen of the Jungle
It’s all about the Lion Queen. The pride increases because of her. 

Hindu Sunday Magazine on 4 Aug 2019

Janaki Lenin at 9:14 AM 
Photo Credit: Stotra Chakrabarti

*This image is copyright of its original author

Lions kill young they didn’t sire to force the mothers to bear their offspring. To avoid this tragedy, lionesses outwit the males

Stotra Chakrabarti’s heart was in his mouth when a wild lion plonked companionably next to him. The dusty ground between his kneeling profile and the cat spanned a mere two metres, close enough to smell the beast’s rank breath. A moment earlier, it had been lying somewhere else while the researcher watched another lion tucking into a nilgai kill some distance away.
“I became a statue,” Chakrabarti recalls. “I didn’t even bat an eyelid.” Every time he moved a muscle in a slow motion effort to get away, the cat opened its eyes. It didn’t help to know the predator was famished and waiting its turn at the carcass. “That was the longest half hour of my life.”

Asian lions are easy-going since they have a long history of living alongside people. But they are not always so tolerant. Males amorously consorting with females become irritable. A courting pair mates 50 to 60 times a day for an average of three days. They seldom drink or eat. They may not live on love and fresh air, but get by on their surcharged hormones. High on testosterone, lions see even a moving bush as a rival, says Chakrabarti.

Survival strategies


He watched 134 mating events, and the males rushed at him every time. Although his basic instincts of self-preservation urged him to run, he held his ground instead, shouting and thrashing his bamboo staff to thwart the attacks. “If you show your back to a lion, your chances of surviving go to zero,” he says.

The researcher survived without a mark, but those under real threat from the lusty males are the cubs. Lions kill young they didn’t sire to force the mothers to bear their offspring. To avoid this tragedy, lionesses outwit the males.

A pride’s territory may overlap with three or four male coalitions of two to four lions each. Lionesses mate with each one and confuse them all. Different males tolerate the same litter, thinking they are the fathers.

“The females control the whole show,” says Chakrabarti. “It’s not the Lion King here, rather the Lion Queen that reigns.” This strategy of promiscuity works on familiar males but not with newcomers.


The two lionesses


Chakrabarti and his assistants perched on their vehicle, watching two lionesses with three-month-old cubs feasting on a buffalo kill in a drying swamp.

There wasn’t a tree or bush in sight. When he spied two unfamiliar males approaching, he feared for the cubs.


The quick-thinking older lioness, which he had named Jodha, dashed towards the humans with the cubs on her heels. The suddenness of the situation caught the researcher, who was sitting on the bonnet of the vehicle, off-guard. Jodha braked beside the 4WD and sprinted back to join the other lioness, alone. A bewildered Chakrabarti swivelled around. Where had the cubs gone? They had crawled to safety under the vehicle.


As the two lionesses chased after the strangers, the researcher wanted to follow. But how was he to move with the cubs ensconced between the wheels? Besides, his assistants refused to cooperate. “She has given us a responsibility,” one argued. “We can’t let her down.”

Chakrabarti had no choice but to wait until the lionesses returned two hours later. The mother hummed, a signal for the cubs to come out of cover. As the family walked away, Jodha glanced back at the men as if to say ‘Thank you’, the researcher recalls.

If the lionesses’ devotion to their families melted Chakrabarti’s heart, he’s still coming to terms with the lions’ disdain.
“A dhole’s or wolf’s gaze pierces you,” he says. “A tiger’s glance sends chills down your spine. But lions destroy your ego with one look. We were just persistent nagging flies that followed them everywhere.”

It’s impossible to tell if the lion that’s sprawled next to Chakrabarti thought it was keeping a fly company.

I said something of a similar feeling after seeing both

"Their personalities are also very different, Lions seem very lazy and don't mind eyes on them, they don't give you much expression and they lay around, a tiger seems to be on edge and much more elusive. Tigers are always moving, even when at the watering hole, they are alert, they prefer to be unseen. The Sangam male was not on edge but on a mission, he was roaring for a female and was moving, tigers are more expressive as my GF put it. Lions seem more confident when around people while tigers just want to slink off into the forest away from viewing eyes but Tigers seem much more unpredictable. They look you in the eye and send shivers down your spine, lions just don't acknowledge you, like you're not even worth their time"

That was from my post in my India thread after returning and comparing both.


Old Kanha male from the B2 thread on Ava that @TheNormalGuy posted.

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