 Reference Base  Possible predation of a black rhinoceros calf by a lion |
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Elliot, W.M., 1987. Possible predation of a black rhinoceros calf by a lion. Lammergeyer 38: 68, fig. 1
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| Location: |
Africa - Southern Africa - South Africa |
| Subject: |
Ecology - Interspecific Relations |
| Species: |
Black Rhino |
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Young black rhino killed by lion.
While on a wilderness trail in Umfolozi Game Reserve, I was awakened at 02h00 (14 June 1987) by the roaring of a lion Panthera leo, this being followed by the persistent high-pitched screaming of an animal in distress. While following the lion's spoor later that morning I disturbed an adult male lion from a carcass, which proved to be a freshly killed black rhinoceros Diceros bicornis (Figure 1). There were signs of a struggle, the rhino had been disemboweled and there were well-defined claw and tooth marks on the neck. The horn length of 18-20 cm indicated that it was probably almost two years old, although the sex could not be determined with certainty. This circumstantial evidence strongly suggested that the lion had killed the rhino, a view supported by the experienced game guard Gqugasa Ntombela who accompanied me. There was no sign of the presence of an adult rhino, and indeed a young black rhino is often independent of its mother at this age.
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