Rainforest Leopards

[Styx38]

(12-17-2020, 07:40 AM)Pckts Wrote:

(12-17-2020, 03:58 AM)Styx38 Wrote:

(12-17-2020, 02:39 AM)Pckts Wrote:

(12-17-2020, 02:18 AM)Styx38 Wrote: @Pckts Rainforest Leopards are pretty robust.

They may not be the biggest but they might be the strongest Leopards P4P, considering they kill Gorillas and Red River Hogs.

Anyway, here is a juvenile Leopard from Garamba National Park.

*This image is copyright of its original author

https://it-it.facebook.com/AfricanParks/...210163181/

 Red River Hogs are in the same vein as Warthogs and Boars so I'm not sure how predation on them separates these cats from their cousins. 
Killing Gorilla's is something else entirely, how often if at all has it actually been observed, especially in modern times. Finding remains in scat doesn't paint a picture of how the animal actually died.

Considering Red River Hog was favored, and more prevalent than Suids in other Leopard diet studies, indicates that the Rainforest Leopards are stronger than the other subspecies due to taking down a relatively robust and dangerous prey at a high frequency.

Wasn't there one incidence of a Leopard and Gorilla both dying from mutually inflicted wounds? If so, this means a Leopard is strong and fierce enough to hold its own against a powerful primate.

Overall, the Rainforest Leopards are robust due to having to take down dangerous animals compared to other Leopards.

Red River Hog aren't favored more than Dulkier 

*This image is copyright of its original author

and the fact is that there are far less small to mid sized ungulates in the Congo Basin so a Leopards options are limited. In comparison the Savanah Leopard not only can prey on suids and dulkier but many more ungulates as large or larger. But regardless, anywhere they coexist, Leopards prey on suids.
Not only that but if you're judging toughness via prey preference from limited scat samples we can say the indochinese Leopard would top the list.

*This image is copyright of its original author

This is why that reasoning doesn't hold much weight but regardless, Rainforest Leopard take no larger or more dangerous prey than other Leopard species.

In regards to the  Leopard and Gorilla dying simultaneously in battle, I can't help but be very skeptical of such a claim.

Actually if you compare Leopards killing Suids or Suids in their diet from highest frequency to lowest;

It goes like this:

Lope Leopards it is Red River Hog: 19.3% (Henschel et. al., 2005)

Phinda Game Reserve Leopards it is Warthog: 12% (Balme et. al., 2007)

Waterberg (South Africa) Leopards it is Warthog: 10.26% (Swanepoel, 2008)

Waterberg Plateau (Namibia) Leopards it is Warthog : 7% (Stein, 2008)

Sariska Tiger Reserve Leopards it is Wild Boar: 2.7% ( Mondal et. al., 2012)

The Gorillas found in Henschel's study were all adults.

This would indicate that there might be a sexual dimorphism, where females focused on small Duiker while mature males took on Red River Hog and Gorilla.

If a Leopard is capable on taking dangerous and/or robust animals like Suids and large primates, this may indicate that the Leopard is stronger, or proportionally more robust. Not necessarily larger in weight. Reply