4 ms·
un-predatable? I've seen plenty of predators in Africa happily munching away on giraffe carcasses. There are even a few lion prides who specialize in hunting
by technothrasher 5y ago
un-predatable? I've seen plenty of predators in Africa happily munching away on giraffe carcasses. There are even a few lion prides who specialize in hunting elephants, but giraffes are commonly prey.
- lifeisstillgood 5y agoSo I happily bow to local / expert knowledge, but my understanding is that giraffe deaths by lions are fairly rare and even when they are eaten scavenging is involved. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giraffe#Mortality_and_health https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giraffe#Mortality_and_health
- technothrasher 5y agoI think it is certainly true that healthy adults are less likely to get taken than the old, sick, or young, as the Wikipedia article points out. But that's true for many prey species. Here's an apropos shot I took of a lion family in the Linyanti Swamps in Northern Botswana enjoying their giraffe kill- https://www.skeptical.org/lionseating.jpg https://www.skeptical.org/lionseating.jpg (and to Wikipedia's point, this one was definitely young).
- darkerside 5y agoCoyotes snatch a toddler every once in a while, don't they?
- technothrasher 5y agoApparently only one known incident of a child killed by a coyote, according to Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Keen_coyote_attack https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Keen_coyote_attack
- lotsofpulp 5y agoIf a dingo counts as similar enough to a coyote, then I would make it 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Azaria_Chamberlain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Azaria_Chamberlain