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Why don't carnivores ever prey on each other?
Topic Started: Feb 1 2012, 04:59 AM (10,432 Views)
Honey Badger
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Ur ready 4 Freddy, butt f*cked bi Foxy
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There are tons of carnivores that prey on others
few examples

Tigers prey on bears
Lynx eat weasels
Giant Otters prey on Caimans
Edited by Honey Badger, Apr 14 2013, 09:14 PM.
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ImperialDino
Omnivore
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I posted a video on here of a female tiger killing and partially eating a male leopard, after the leopard wondered too close to her cubs.
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Jinfengopteryx
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I think they prefer herbivores, because carnivores aswell need the nutrients in plants, but they can't digest them, so they take them from the stomachs of herbivores. That's of course not the only reason why they have to eat, but I think it's simply that they get more nutrients they need from herbivores.
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Arovinrac
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the reasons i can think of are predators would put up more of a fight and would be more likely to injure each other so it isn't worth the fight, there would be less carnivores than herbivores so therefore would be less prey, as you go up the food chain more energy is lost so attacking another carnivore would probably lose more energy than it would gain
having said this I have also read on this thread that some carnivores do prey on others, is this common or is it rare occurrences?
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Ursus arctos
Autotrophic Organism

08pateldan
Mar 3 2013, 07:24 PM
there would be less carnivores than herbivores so therefore would be less prey, as you go up the food chain more energy is lost
The former is explained by the latter.

The latter would not be an explanation for the line that followed it, unless you mean much higher search costs due to difficulty of finding other predators.
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Vivec
Canid and snake enthusiast.
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Taurus
Feb 1 2012, 07:02 AM
Actually carnivores do prey on other carnivores, just not often due to the herbivore populations are high compared to other carnivore populations which are low.

Coyotes regularly prey on domestic dogs/cats, mustelids, raccoons, oppossums and foxes. Leopards prey on hyenas, dholes, wild dogs, feral dogs, smaller cats, jackals, mongooses, foxes, civets, cheetahs, lion/tiger cubs and even other leopards. Wolves often prey on other canid species and young bears. Cougars do prey on wolverines, coyotes, wolves, domestic dogs, smaller cats and bear cubs.

Weasels regularly prey on shrews and moles in areas where there are no rodents existed. Bobcats often feed on smaller mustelids from weasels to fishers. Fishers often prey on other carnivores. Canids often prey on smaller carnivores as well. Tigers often included dogs and bears as part of their diet but they do sometimes feed on leopards. Male bears are highly cannibalistic and there is a record of a grizzly bear feeding on a wolf carcass. Also there is a record of a black bear killed and eaten a male wolverine.

The only carnivores that don't feed on other carnivores are cheetahs, jaguars, sloth bears, lions and of course panda bears.
Since when do Leopards prey on Hyenas? Or Cougars prey on Wolves? Never.
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Full Throttle
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Generally speaking, in any given ecosystem prey animals outnumber predators, vice verse neither species would survive.So, it makes more sense to hunt the more available food source, a prime example is the Sitkhole Alin forest, ungulate populations decreased thanks too poaching, so tigers began to prey on more bears than ever before, because suddenly bears were the more readily available targets.

But, obviously predators kill each other to remove competition, and I've often heard that lions rarely eat the hyenas they kill, I have no idea why this is the case, but generally speaking predator vs predator conflict is based on competition, except in cases were the losing predator is eaten, in that scenario the other predator is a win win scenario, it has removed a competitor and secured itself a meal. But as to why some predators kill then don't eat other predators I really don't understand...
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FelinePowah
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Havent cheetah killed jackels and foxes??? not sure if they have eaten them.
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boldchamp
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DinosaurMichael
Feb 1 2012, 04:59 AM
Ever notice when it comes to nature predators never prey on each other and mainly just on herbivores. For example. A Lion kills a Spotted Hyena but doesn't eat it. Why make it go to waste and not just eat it if starving. Is it because carnivores taste bad or is there any other reason? Could anyway explain why?
The reason why they do not generally kill other predators is that, A, predators have a different scent compared to prey items. Basically....a predator knows what good food smells like. Another reason could be that they do not taste quite so satisfying, nor do they look like any prey these animals might take.
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Scalesofanubis
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Depends on the predator, really, but there are a couple of factors at play.

1) Roughly speaking, herbivores are more common than omnivores (who may also be predators), that are more common than carnivores.
2) While some herbivores are well armed, all carnivores are. Hunting carnivores risks injury.
3) Some predators tend to develop a taste for a particular prey animals. Even if they kill another predator, they may not eat it unless VERY hungry, because they prefer X prey animal. For other predators, meat is meat. If they kill something, be it in a fight or hunting, they are going to eat it. Others are sort of in between. Some predators will eat if presented with food regardless, others will only eat if they are actually hungry.
4) Some predators will hunt smaller predators, basically to decrease competition and make herd animals less wary.

And, yes. Leopards will sometimes kill (and even eat) lone hyenas, and mountain lions will treat lone wolves the same way.

Say it with me, kids, "Hyena's are not weapon X, Hyena's are not weapon X.".
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Honey Badger
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Ur ready 4 Freddy, butt f*cked bi Foxy
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Full Throttle
Mar 4 2013, 02:00 AM
Generally speaking, in any given ecosystem prey animals outnumber predators, vice verse neither species would survive.So, it makes more sense to hunt the more available food source, a prime example is the Sitkhole Alin forest, ungulate populations decreased thanks too poaching, so tigers began to prey on more bears than ever before, because suddenly bears were the more readily available targets.

But, obviously predators kill each other to remove competition, and I've often heard that lions rarely eat the hyenas they kill, I have no idea why this is the case, but generally speaking predator vs predator conflict is based on competition, except in cases were the losing predator is eaten, in that scenario the other predator is a win win scenario, it has removed a competitor and secured itself a meal. But as to why some predators kill then don't eat other predators I really don't understand...
nice signature ;) that was a sig right ?
Edited by Honey Badger, Mar 8 2013, 11:15 PM.
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Black Ice
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I heard the meat of predators don't taste as good as the meat of herbivores. Which is why lions don't eat dead hyena and so on and so on unless desperate
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Honey Badger
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Ur ready 4 Freddy, butt f*cked bi Foxy
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They do, but taking down another predator with sharp teeth and claws is not as easy
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Vivec
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Scalesofanubis
Mar 5 2013, 01:05 AM
Depends on the predator, really, but there are a couple of factors at play.

1) Roughly speaking, herbivores are more common than omnivores (who may also be predators), that are more common than carnivores.
2) While some herbivores are well armed, all carnivores are. Hunting carnivores risks injury.
3) Some predators tend to develop a taste for a particular prey animals. Even if they kill another predator, they may not eat it unless VERY hungry, because they prefer X prey animal. For other predators, meat is meat. If they kill something, be it in a fight or hunting, they are going to eat it. Others are sort of in between. Some predators will eat if presented with food regardless, others will only eat if they are actually hungry.
4) Some predators will hunt smaller predators, basically to decrease competition and make herd animals less wary.

And, yes. Leopards will sometimes kill (and even eat) lone hyenas, and mountain lions will treat lone wolves the same way.

Say it with me, kids, "Hyena's are not weapon X, Hyena's are not weapon X.".
Any evidence for that? I have yet to see a Leopard or a Cougar kill an Adult Male Wolf/Hyena, let alone eat it.
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ManEater
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Scythian : There is the famous leopard M23

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