There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
(02-16-2022, 01:32 AM)SpinoRex Wrote: But i said clearly before that the estimates alone are useless. With that i mentioned the MDR which was just a measurement "start" for the scientists of what a lion SHOULD eat. At the end they averaged a bit above it with c.11 kg including NT males but as NT males are pretty inconsistent it should be noted sperately as (9.4 kg, 13.2 kg)
I saw the pictures of Puyol. There is no doubt he had stomach content but i doubt he was really gorged. Puyol was c.4 years old. From the pictures i estimate him in the neighborhood of 220 kg.
But that is the point, estimations are just about what they should eat, but not what they actually eat. NT may eat more but less frequently while TM may eat less but more frequently, that is what I see in the study, but actually TM eat more overall. That is fact, specially for the easy life of a male lion.
Now, about Puyol I clearly said "IF". No one is saying that was actually gorged, althoug the same author suggest that it was. The belly is not so big so for a 4 years old male lion 200 kg is not out of question. 220 is a bit high for a lion of that age, but may happen. At the end, the scale used was imperfect, as they say, so the real weight could be very good about 215 - 220 kg empty, taking in count a good meal between 15 - 20 kg, which is normal for an adult male lion.
I decided to use the figure of 235 kg and add a note about the stomach content. You can see it in my table from many years ago. Puyol is not a new male for anyone here and this topic is an old discussion, that at the end is unimportant, as most of the male lions in modern records DO include stomach contents. So, there is no point in trying to adjust weights, that is only an excuse to try to diminish the weights of some tigers (specially those from Nepal), but we should use the weights are they are as we can't know the real amount of food, unless we can actually weigh it. Even then, as you can see, I do adjusted the weights from tigers and I used the weights for lions as they are reported (not adjusted). Incredible, the tigers still dominate the scale.