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Leopard Predation Thread
Leopard Predation Thread
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Leopard Predation Thread
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 one MASSIVE male leopard from an unknown place in South Africa with an adult wildebeest kill. 
Big male killing a large wildebeest in the Masai Mara:
"Here is the big male leopard chasing the wildebeest then eating the one he caught then trying to drag him up the hill but the wildebeest was too heavy and the embankment too steep. So he decided to eat some of it where it had died."  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author https://www.facebook.com/paula.hammack.1/posts/4254033487979496
26kg female killed an ibex weighing almost three times her size:
 *This image is copyright of its original author The Persian Leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor Pocock, 1927) at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, Al Malha, Al Quds (Jerusalem), Palestine, and a review of the status of Panthera pardus in Palestine 
Leopard predation vs. Wolf predation on domestic animals in Iran.
Leopards preferred Cattle while Wolves preferred shoats (portmanteau of sheep and goats). "Leopards were reported to kill mainly cattle (79%, n = 115) compared to shoat (21%, n = 30) and only one individual per attack regardless of livestock species. In contrast, wolves were reported to kill mainly shoat (96%, n = 501) compared to cattle (4%, n = 23). On average, wolves were reported to kill 8.64 ± 1.85 shoat and 1.28 ± 0.19 cattle per attack in a total of 58 depredation events. Herders’ reports suggested that both carnivores had a narrow spatial overlap in depredation (14% of grid cells). Leopards were reported to kill 57% of shoat and 37% of cattle outside reserves, but wolves were reported to kill only 22% of shoat and 30% of cattle outside reserves. Of 142 signs of illegal hunting of ungulates, gunshells were the most common ones (66%, n = 94), followed by direct sightings (14%, n = 14%), fire remains (12%, n = 17) and gunshots heard (8%, n = 11). Encounter rates of cattle and shoat were inversely and significantly correlated with wild prey species (Table S3). Cattle (rho = 0.31, p < 0.000) and shoat signs (rho = 0.36, p < 0.000) were positively correlated with signs of illegal hunting of ungulates." source: Soofi, Mahmood, et al. "Assessing the relationship between illegal hunting of ungulates, wild prey occurrence and livestock depredation rate by large carnivores." Journal of Applied Ecology 56.2 (2019): 365-374.
Leopard with a similar sized Sambar Carcass in a tree.
https://imgur.com/a/vmjDdwk From here. https://www.facebook.com/rickypatel066/v...373616313/
Indian leopard with chital stag kill
 *This image is copyright of its original author https://www.facebook.com/1658831123/videos/741545620466980/
Leopard makes an attempted predation on cow, only to get scared off by driver.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kYLFznsr-Zs  *This image is copyright of its original author
(07-30-2018, 08:15 AM)Shir Babr Wrote: Years ago I read two different accounts of leopard predation, one of a chimpanzee and other of an African forest elephant calf that were dispatched with a chest bite that punctured the lung according to the autopsy of the chimp; I couldn't find the articles, but here are three different cases of leopards employing that technique on warthogs: This poster has not been active for a while, so here is the Chimpanzee account.  *This image is copyright of its original author This posted on carnivora.net by user Shin, and here is the original source. The Real Chimpanzee: Sex Strategies in the Forest (2009) By Christophe Boesch I posted about the Leopard predation on Elephant calf on this thread. https://wildfact.com/forum/topic-rainfor...8#pid82814
02-09-2023, 04:54 AM
( This post was last modified: 02-20-2023, 02:37 PM by Styx38
Edit Reason: forgot to add some graphs
)
Leopard predation on Blue Sheep.
In one study, they made a low part of a Leopard's diet. "Among prey species Barking Deer (Muntiacus muntjak) were observed most frequently (18%) in leopard scats, while Blue Sheep (Pseudois nayaur) were observed less frequently (6%)." source: Achyut, A., and Brigitte Kreigenhofer. "Summer diet composition of the common leopard Panthera pardus (Carnivora: Felidae) in Nepal." Journal of Threatened Taxa (2009): 562-566. Another study mentions that both Leopards and Snow Leopards predate on Himalayn Tahr. "Contrary to our prediction, snow leopard and common leopard preyed upon similar wild (Himalayan tahr, musk deer) and domestic species (Bos spp., dogs). Dietary overlap between snow leopard and common leopard was 69% (yearly), 76% (colder months) and 60% (warmer months)."  *This image is copyright of its original author source: Lovari, S., et al. "Common and snow leopards share prey, but not habitats: competition avoidance by large predators?." Journal of Zoology 291.2 (2013): 127-135. So I think that it is interesting that Leopards can prey on slope dwelling ungulates like Himalayan Tahr and Blue Sheep. It would be interesting to see how Leopards in the Himalayas chase their prey and interact with Snow Leopards sometime in the future.
Leopard predation of river animals:
In one study, Leopards predated on African Sharptooth Catfish due to low abundance of ungulates in the dry season. "The differences in the number of catfish preyed upon between seasons is the most noticeable (Dry: 94.6%, Wet: 5.4%). Although impala were the preferred ungulate species in the dry season, 50% of the Savute leopard’s diet comprised of catfish, with over 94% of observations occurring in the dry season (Table 9). This could - 24 - be a consequence of the relative availability of impala decreasing by 37% from the wet season to the dry (Table 5). Hayward et al. (2006a) suggested that the variable body mass of leopards may allow it to survive short-term on invertebrates or small vertebrates when preferred prey is absent. This appears true for Savute’s leopards, switching to fishing to sustain themselves through the dry season. This is the first documentation of continued fishing by leopards across a number of years. Investigating whether this is exclusive to Savute and the potential drivers of this predation, such as declines in herbivores, are crucial in understanding predator adaptability and any changes in ecosystem state " source: Harvey, Lorna. Using Alternative Long-term Data to Help Monitor and Manage Wildlife Populations in Savute, Botswana. Predator-prey Preference as an Example. Diss. Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park, Imperial College London, 2016. Here is a Leopard eating a fish (not exactly sure which species) in the same place of the study known as Chobe National Park.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author "A leopard (Panthera pardus) eating a fish that it caught in the Savuti marsh, Chobe National Park, Botswana, Africa" https://www.jamitarris.com/image/I0000nSKLs5epzGc Leopard with Otter kill in Moremi. It may be a spotted-necked otter killed by the Leopard.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author "Completely soaked female leopard (panthera pardus) with otter kill in Moremi National Park (Khwai), Botswana" https://www.alamy.com/completely-soaked-...83580.html
Leopard predation of sea animals:
There was confirmed predation of African Penguins by Leopards and Caracals "For logistical reasons, not all carcasses could be obtained; a subset of 52 penguins that were killed by Caracal, 27 penguins killed by a Leopard, 10 penguins killed by Domestic Dogs, and 4 penguins killed by Cape Grey Mongoose were evaluated." "Twenty-seven adult penguins predated by Leopard were examined, representing a subset of the 31 individuals killed during a killing spree by a single Leopard at Stony Point (Table 2). Externally, most affected individuals only showed small amounts of blood on the neck, and in most cases there was no tearing or consumption of the carcass. Based on the patterns of lesions observed upon external examination, cases were subjectively classified in three categories (Table 4): no neck fracture, single neck fracture, and multiple neck fractures" There is even some extra detail about how the different killing methods between Leopard and Caracal. "The killing techniques employed by Caracal and Leopard to kill African Penguins were consistent with those used by these predators to kill small antelope, resulting in relatively ‘clean’ kills with few bite marks to the neck (Kingdon and Hoffmann 2013). A similar killing technique appears to be employed by Cougar Puma concolor in Argentina, based on camera-trap photographs showing cougars carrying Magellanic Penguins Spheniscus magellanicus by holding them with a bite to the upper neck (Frere et al. 2010). Caracal primarily targeted the upper (cranial) parts of the neck, whereas the Leopard preferred the lower (caudal) neck; but perhaps the most reliable parameter to differentiate predation by these predators is the size and inter-canine spread of the bite marks and the greater force exerted that is observed in cases of Leopard predation. In carcasses where no canine puncture marks were found because the skin had been torn out or consumed, Caracal involvement can be determined by the characteristic pattern of near-decapitation or decapitation due to the chewing of neck muscles and vertebrae down to the pectoral girdle, which was not seen in Leopard-predated carcasses. However, it should be borne in mind that decapitation and near-decapitation was also seen in penguin chicks killed by Cape Grey Mongoose"  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author source: Vanstreels, Ralph ET, et al. "Identification of land predators of African penguins Spheniscus demersus through post-mortem examination." Ostrich 90.4 (2019): 359-372. There were some news articles of Leopard predation on penguins. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/...vation-deb https://africageographic.com/stories/leo...-penguins/ There were earlier posts of Leopards killing pelicans. There is also the case of a Leopard killing a juvenile Cape Fur Seal. There was also a mention of Leopards and Lions being observed by locals to raid sea turtle nests in the beaches of Angola. "occasional nest predators included lions, leopards" source: Carr, Thomas, and Nicole Carr. "Surveys of the sea turtles of Angola." Biological Conservation 58.1 (1991): 19-29. Hopefully, there should be more reports of Leopards hunting animals endemic to the African coast and mangroves. It is interesting how Leopard prey can range from Himalayan Tahr of the mountain slopes to the Penguins of the beaches.
Male leopard killed an adult mountain zebra:
 *This image is copyright of its original author Source: http://stuartmarsden.blogspot.com/2014/09/ There are two mountain zebra subspecies: the Cape mountain zebra which lives in South Africa and the Hartmann's mountain zebra which lives in Angola and Namibia. The leopard killed a Hartmann's mountain zebra since it's a Namibian leopard. |
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