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We found this calf kill and figured it to be a week old at the time. The lion was still using it(too bad the rancher doesn't pay a bounty and we had to turn her loose). Well we put a cam on it and these 2 different lions came by a few days apart, one actually feeding on it, the kill was approx 2 weeks old at this time.

Shows that lions will scavenge/eat rotten meat, lots of folks think a lion won't eat rotten meat or something they didn't kill themselves. Thought you all would enjoy the pics.

AK

Those are pretty cool pictures. Thanks for sharing them and the insights...

Yup, some cool photos alright and thanks for sharing.........

ike

Ive seen lions scavange many times too. Caught two lions off of an elk that had ben gut shot by a bow hunter. Saw the bull alive and where it died, Cut the head off. It laid there dead a day or so when the lions started eating on it. The ate on it for two days for sure.

Guess when your hungrey even rotten food is good!!!

Cool pics, She must have been pretty hungry.

I have found that lions scavenge more often than people think. I watched a 1200 LBS cow get dismember one winter by a big tom lion he ate every peace of meat on that cow it was quit something to see I wish I would have had a trail camera to document it. I have caught several lions off road killed deer that they took from the road side and dragged them away and cover them up as if they had made the kill themselves so it’s not as uncommon as one would think. Lions also check out old kill sites even if the carcass is long past decayed, which might be what the lion in the picture was up to? These trail cameras are great and can really tell a story. Great pictures none the less thank for sharing!

sourdough

Nice pics. Thanks for sharing them.

take care, jason

Good photos I agree!

Question for Azlongears: Was this yearling killed by these lions or was it just one they bumped into dead and took over and started eating on it?


If it was a simple case of scavenger lions then sure glad you didn't take them out. But if it is a simple case of livestock predation then I don't understand the bounty situation.

We don't have bounty here in New Mexico so maybe you can clear that up for me. Most generally if a livestock claim has been made wo pays the bounty? Is it just the rancher or does it come from partially state funding. Also Arizona has Federal Wildlife Service paid hunters who handle some of this work as do many western states. I was just hoping you could clear that up for me.

Carrion is the term used for the meat that the animal eat when scavenging. I have been able to successfully train pups off of dead animals that a few lions frequented (did they kill the animal or scavenge not sure) but I have never seen a bobcat scavenge.

How can you tell its 2 different lions?

different size of tracks or perhaps by sexual organs

Sourdough made a good point about lions returning to check on an old kill (carcass) site. Something everyone should keep in mind when your out looking for a track. And as stated, they also have no problem taking over road kill. Watched a female on an elk carcass a few years back. She would lay down in the ditch when a car passed but ate on that elk carcass for 3 days.

Mike-
I have no proof these lions killed the yearling. I trailed her for a few days in the area before I found the kill. I'd say she most likely didn't kill it, but some lion did as the guts were pulled out burried near the kill. The bounty thing is a personal decison the ranchers make. Some like to offer one if a houndsmen kills a lion in their grazing allotment, others don't. The state has no "general bounty fund" or anything like that but there are some groups of ranchers that pay into a pool to have the ADC boys come hunt lions for them. Doesn't really make any difference to me, I'd just as soon turn them loose, whether they killed the beef or not.

AzDogman-
I can't say 100% for sure they are different lions but I am pretty confident they are. In the photos dated the 4th the lion (which is the female I believe) has no scar on her back and she is feeding on the carcass. The photos dated the 7th, the last two lion pics in the series, this is a tom I believe. He has a scar on his back. He just walked by the kill, maybe checking it? Maybe he killed it? Plus on top of all that there were tracks of both a tom and a female pretty consistant in the area.

AK