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Lion Predation

Finland Shadow Offline
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( This post was last modified: 07-23-2019, 01:12 AM by Shadow )

(07-23-2019, 12:39 AM)Pantherinae Wrote:
(07-21-2019, 03:03 PM)Shadow Wrote: This is about lioness killing alone bull cape buffalo, which I mentioned in thread "Lion directory" posting #245 and now @Djumafan had noticed update, which he posted in thread "Lions of Sabi Sands" posting #1993". 

This is from same blog, which djumafan used, but I decided to put it here too, because this isn´t something we hear or see too often. Lioness killing an adult bull cape buffalo alone. More information is still coming some day next week, but even with current information this is an impressive kill. Tsalala seems to be one special lioness.

Quote:
"The hot topic this week was of course the Tsalala female taking down a buffalo by herself. And no, it wasn’t a calf that she isolated form a herd, it was a big bull. The lioness is certainly not the biggest we’ve ever seen at Londolozi, maybe topping the scales at 130kg, if that, and the bull probably weighed well in excess of 600kg, so it was no mean feat. When one also considers that the Ntsevu pride of 6 adult females are starting to develop a reputation amongst the guides here for not being good buffalo hunters, so little success have they met with of late, it just makes the Tsalala lioness that much more impressive as an individual."

https://blog.londolozi.com/2019/07/19/th...tures-396/

Addition: When biggest cape buffalos are known to weight even up to almost 1000 kg, I think that 600 kg estimation about big bull can be considered realistic and conservative.


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Wow this was impressive. I have never heard about a lone lioness killing a buffalo bull.

Yes and I checked two studies briefly. And in both adult cape buffalo bulls had average weight of over 750 kg
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Pantherinae Offline
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(07-23-2019, 12:45 AM)Shadow Wrote:
(07-23-2019, 12:39 AM)Pantherinae Wrote:
(07-21-2019, 03:03 PM)Shadow Wrote: This is about lioness killing alone bull cape buffalo, which I mentioned in thread "Lion directory" posting #245 and now @Djumafan had noticed update, which he posted in thread "Lions of Sabi Sands" posting #1993". 

This is from same blog, which djumafan used, but I decided to put it here too, because this isn´t something we hear or see too often. Lioness killing an adult bull cape buffalo alone. More information is still coming some day next week, but even with current information this is an impressive kill. Tsalala seems to be one special lioness.

Quote:
"The hot topic this week was of course the Tsalala female taking down a buffalo by herself. And no, it wasn’t a calf that she isolated form a herd, it was a big bull. The lioness is certainly not the biggest we’ve ever seen at Londolozi, maybe topping the scales at 130kg, if that, and the bull probably weighed well in excess of 600kg, so it was no mean feat. When one also considers that the Ntsevu pride of 6 adult females are starting to develop a reputation amongst the guides here for not being good buffalo hunters, so little success have they met with of late, it just makes the Tsalala lioness that much more impressive as an individual."

https://blog.londolozi.com/2019/07/19/th...tures-396/

Addition: When biggest cape buffalos are known to weight even up to almost 1000 kg, I think that 600 kg estimation about big bull can be considered realistic and conservative.


*This image is copyright of its original author
Wow this was impressive. I have never heard about a lone lioness killing a buffalo bull.

Yes and I checked two studies briefly. And in both adult cape buffalo bulls had average weight of over 750 kg
Yes they are big powerful animals. The largest bulls will probably exceed 1000kg. A bull that had just passed in a Danish ZOO I visited in The summer had weighed a ton and it wasn’t the biggest cape, but likely had some extra kilos by being in captivity.
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United Kingdom Spalea Offline
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Firm bite on the throat:

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United Kingdom Spalea Offline
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In front of witnesses...

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Finland Shadow Offline
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Now the final part about lioness Tsalala and killing a cape buffalo bull alone was published, quote:

"It’s quite a feat for a single lioness – and not even a particularly big one – to bring down a buffalo by herself. Especially when there is an ample supply of far easier (at least seemingly easier) prey species at hand in the form of impala, bushbuck, nyala and a number of other antelope species.

Yet that is exactly what the Tsalala lioness accomplished last week in an insane display of strength. Ranger Greg Pingo heard the buffalo’s distress calls, and found the lioness and her kill when she was already opening it up.
Certain factors almost certainly acted in the lioness’ favour. The buffalo looked like an old bull and was therefore slightly weaker than a male in his prime. The river sand in which she took him down probably helped anchor the bull, preventing him from moving fast and perhaps making good an escape. The thick bank of Matumi trees probably hemmed him in, acting like a wall against which he could be cornered.
I’m in no way attempting to belittle the lioness’ accomplishment here; quite the opposite in fact, as I’m singing her praises for recognising a superb opportunity and capitalising on it.

That buffalo fed her and her cubs (and one of the Birmingham males) for a further 6 days!

The supply of buffalo bulls in the Sand River has been noticeably short since the drought of 2015-16 (the drop in numbers can be largely attributed to the senior Tsalala females that were around then, as at one stage were bringing down the old buffalos almost daily), but two years of better rainfall has seen a gradual bounce back in the numbers, and a couple of older males have started splintering off into bachelor existences in the reedbeds and palm thickets. Tracking big cats into these areas has become noticeably more intense, as the likelihood of bumping into a recalcitrant bull unexpectedly is significantly higher than it was 24 months ago.

This will be a state of affairs that the Tsalala lioness will relish, as if more and more opportunities like this one present themselves, she can essentially be care-free for a couple of days while she and her litter devour their meal. Hyenas tend to keep well clear of lions in this area (they have more than enough food to scavenge off the local leopard population), and it is only other lions that the Tsalala female needs fear.

She narrowly avoided being run off the kill only a couple of hours after she made it when the Ntsevu pride wandered through the area only about 800m away, downwind, but fortunately they didn’t get a whiff of the carcass.

The lioness moved off after just under a week, not going far and remaining in the reedbeds of the Sand River. She has not been seen for a couple of days now and we suspect the small pride is still inhabiting the River downstream from camp.
Hopefully the female is simply waiting for the next buffalo that happens along…"

Source: https://blog.londolozi.com/2019/07/24/ts...a8f343fd8d


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Look at those bellies of cubs Wink Some more photos if you open that link to blog. 

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Finland Shadow Offline
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It is odd, when looking at this lioness, that it´s called small. It looks like quite decent sized, but then again, belly is full :)


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Damn this is one impressive lioness, just had to say it one more time :)
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Finland Shadow Offline
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This is tough one, not giving up. It is a benefit to be a male lion, when injured this badly.


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Mane is still very good looking.


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Here whole story... I just noticed that wrong thread, but on the other had this is a good example, how a member of pride can survive even though not able to hunt itself.

https://blog.londolozi.com/2019/07/30/ho...86840b1021
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An elephant's trunk for lunch at a rather unsurprising place, Chobe National Park in northern Botswana: https://500px.com/photo/155316307/Trunk-...d=13478053


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Finland Shadow Offline
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( This post was last modified: 07-31-2019, 11:58 PM by Shadow )

(07-31-2019, 11:42 PM)BorneanTiger Wrote: An elephant's trunk for lunch at a rather unsurprising place, Chobe National Park in northern Botswana: https://500px.com/photo/155316307/Trunk-...d=13478053


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Lions there really are something special :) They seem to kill more elephants than lions in other regions.

Here one article about lions there:
http://www.itravelto.com/elephant-killers-botswana.html


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Finland Shadow Offline
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( This post was last modified: 08-01-2019, 01:36 AM by Shadow )

This blog posting is worth reading. When there was just that incident, where lioness Tsalala killed alone big adult male cape buffalo, here is then another kind of story about a pride, which is surprising in it, that killing only rarely cape buffalos.

Headline: Why are the Ntsevu Lions Bad at Hunting Buffalo? 

https://blog.londolozi.com/2019/07/31/wh...6160cdcc9e



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The Ntsevu Pride bring down an adult buffalo, although to be fair, it was one of the Majingilane that was leading the charge in this instance.


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Finland Shadow Offline
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Now the link in previous posting is working... :)
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BorneanTiger Offline
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Brutal yet moving, when tourists in Madikwe Game Reserve in South Africa saw a lioness feeding on a hartebeest, they expected it to keep on doing what it was doing, but they were in for a surprise: the lioness showed remorse after realising that it killed a pregnant antelope: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...elope.html

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Roman mosaic from Tunisia in the 2nd century showing 2 lions devouring a boar (I presume Barbary lions and a North African boar): https://www.flickr.com/photos/22490717@N02/7847199676


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Finland Shadow Offline
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( This post was last modified: 08-06-2019, 02:35 AM by Shadow )

One honey badger gets killed, looks like that just in wrong place wrong time. I´m not sure if first 55 seconds of this video are related to it, what happens from 0:56 forward.

Anyway for me it looks like it, that young male(s) kind of playing around with honey badger and not sure what to do. Then when lioness approaches suddenly, young male lion decides, that it is his. Quickly kills honey badger and takes it away from others. Who knows if that lioness wouldn´t have approached like that, young male might have let it go... pity in a way, I like honey badgers.

Turn off voice if not liking dramatic music... I had to do so Wink 

Edit: Actually that honey badger seems to be still alive at 2:08, even though not in shape to fight. Still impressive, imo! When scene changes at 2:16-2:17 it is obviously dead, killed in between. At 2:16 it is hanging from head, still at least a bit alive. At 2:17 it´s lifeless and lion carries it from tail. It would be interesting to see whole footage, but I haven´t seen longer version.




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Finland Shadow Offline
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( This post was last modified: 08-06-2019, 02:49 PM by Shadow )

Looks like a young lion... and makes to think, that did it kill this honey badger to eat it or to use it as a toy... that doesn´t look too serious trying what comes to rip it open. Some lions eat at least partially honey badgers after killing, but some seem to maul them and leave to die like they do to hyenas. Or maybe this just is the first honey badger for this lion and still learning.




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