A big leopard is riding on a giraffe with a bloody mouth. Apparently, the leopard hung the giraffe from a tree several meters high and ate it for several days, leaving only bones, skin and flesh scattered everywhere.
The giraffe weighs 300kg, which is five times heavier than the killer who killed it. The process of a leopard raising food to a tree is equivalent to a person climbing two floors with 2000 Big Macs in one breath.
You may think this behavior is strange, but if the leopard doesn't bother to send its prey to the tree, it may be taken away by hyenas and lions.
A leopard is taking its prey to the tree. (Source: James Tyrrell)
Panthera, a non-profit organization focusing on the protection of wild cats, found that leopards in Sabi Jinsha Sanctuary hunted at least 40 kinds of prey.
At the end of each day's observation, the research team will record the leopards and their prey. During 20 13 to 20 15 years, they always * * * analyzed 104 leopards and their 22 15 feeding behaviors.
Scientists have found that leopards will take prey weighing 0.5 to 1.5 times their own weight to eat in trees, while others that are too small or too big often eat directly on the ground. If hyenas or other male leopards appear, the possibility of taking them to the tree to eat them will also increase.
A leopard is attacking springbok. (Source: Wim van den Heever/naturepl.com)
If a leopard feels that there are no competitors nearby but wants to hide its prey in a tree, it will cover it with branches or branches. Once on the tree, the leopard will jump on the trunk and hide its prey as high as 10 meters.
On the ground, hyenas can usually defeat leopards and sometimes even kill this cat.
Fortunately, hyenas can't climb trees This means that the leopard can stay in the tree with food and watch the hyenas screaming under the tree quietly.
However, it is the hyena who laughs last. During the research, there were 39 times when the leopard accidentally fell from the tree, and the hyena escaped with food in its mouth.
For a female leopard, losing a prey means starving for days. And the more it loses, the fewer cubs it can survive.
Balme is convinced that the main reason why leopards drag their prey onto trees is to avoid food being stolen.
Tadpole staff compiled from bbc, translated by Dog Gege, reproduced with authorization.